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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24914908">Shattered</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharmyWizard/pseuds/CharmyWizard'>CharmyWizard</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Shattered [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Anxiety Leo, Autistic Donnie, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family, Fluff and Angst, How do they know it’s five weeks old?, did they keep track!?, happy ending I promise, hurt comfort, why would you eat a m+m that’s five weeks old?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:21:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>23,279</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24914908</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CharmyWizard/pseuds/CharmyWizard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo knows Donnie needs help sometimes, but he can’t fix everything.  So when Donnie comes home a emotional wreck his first instinct is to do everything he can to help and figure out whose responsible for his brothers pain</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Donatello &amp; Leonardo (TMNT)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Shattered [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2109576</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>128</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I have this on Tumblr and FF too so why not here?</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>"I'm with you."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Even though Donatello nods furiously, Leo's not sure his twin really heard him. His brother's eyes were swimming with tears, as he struggled with quick panicked breaths. Leo was grateful more than ever that they had decided to visit the small bodega at the middle of the night. Since now it was almost empty there were fewer customers to stare at the two ten-year old's in oversized hoodies, "I-I I can't' breathe Leo."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Then we'll leave."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"B-but." Don's eyes glance towards the shopping basket Leo had been carrying with a vanilla of vanilla ice cream and a bottle of hot sauce, "we came here for your ice-cream."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>It wasn't even a question,' It doesn't matter to me, let's just go home- "</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"NO," This time people actually stare, not that it passes Don's attention who quickly scrubs at his face with the back of his sleeve, "I'll-I'll be fine. I'll be ok let's just hurry."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Leo would have dropped everything in that moment for his brother. But he distant his brother to feel worst then he already did. Which was deep thinking for a ten-year-old who couldn't look at a picture of a monkey without laughing, "Ok we're almost done bro," Donnie nodded again, Leo turned to move up in line and almost jumped out of his skin when Donnie grabbed his elbow but didn't pull away. He stepped up to the counter and upended his hard-earned allowance onto the counter, "Keep the change," Leo told the viciously high cashier. He tried not to think about how long he had saved that money up before he grabbed his treats and hurried out the door, dragging his brother behind him. the minute they excited the bodega and to the adjoining alley, where Leo knew the closets manhole cover was. But the minute they reached the shadows Donnie yanked his arm away. Before Leo could react, Donnie burst into tears, rubbing at his face with his sleeves in a rougher manner that made him want to grab his arms, but years of experience taught him not to, "D, it's ok, - "</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I tried to keep it together, I really did, "Donnie grabbed the rim of his hoodie pulled it down over his face, "It was so loud in there, I-I"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I know, you wouldn't think a bodega would be blaring Iron Maiden," As usual, Don's response to humor was to give him a dead pan look through his red marked face, "I'm sorry."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Did I ruin everything?""</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Of course not." Leo fought the urge to touch his brothers arm but knowing when to touch his brother was almost a balancing act. It was always wiser to let his brother decide when to initiate physical contact, "You handled that really great D! You kept it together, and we still got ice cream."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Donnie nodded, but Leo couldn't tell if he was feeling better nor just nodding for social convention (What social convention was, he had no idea. Donnie had mentioned it a few times), "Can we just go home?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Yeah sure!" Before he could stop himself, he held his hand out. Knowing Donnie was probably going to push past him and walk ahead to give himself some alone time, which he was prepared to honor that. But instead his brother grabbed his hand like a life line and rested his cheek on Leos' shoulder. Despite himself Leo gave a small grin and rested his cheek on his brother's hooded scalp, "It's ok D, you know I'll always fix you." Unable to stop from feeling proud of himself.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He's so proud of himself, in fact, that he doesn't notice Donnie's sad sigh</em>
</p><p><em>"(#)(#)\/(#)(#)</em><br/>Five years later</p><p>"Seriously?"</p><p>Mikey nodded rapidly, unable to look away from the screen or the blocky pixelated figures, "This game is WAY more intense then you think man. I found three secret endings, and I've cried twelve times. That's not even half the amount of times Raph cried!"<br/>Leo blinked, looking towards the bathroom and the ungodly noise coming from it, "Is that what that noise is? I thought Raph was trying to flush the blender again."<br/>"Nope, the last ending we found really got to him."</p><p>The bathroom door swung open, "Why did it have to be the dog?!" Raph tore open a new packaging of tissues from the pile in his arms, blowing his nose loudly, "Why is it always the dog!? The dog didn't do anything why did=the-he" Raph let out another oud sob before burying his face into the tissue he had in his hand, "There was just so much soup!"</p><p>Leo had to choke back a laugh, if only to spare his openly weeping brothers' pride. HE flopped back onto a bean bag chair," How many endings are there supposed to be?"</p><p>"According to the wiki, Atleast seventy-five. And we're going to find them all, Right Raphie?!'"</p><p>"Damn right we are!" Raph punched the air before plopping on the ground right next to Mikey, "We have Atleast twelve tissue boxes, and twenty cartons of ice-cream in the freezer, this night is OURS" he dropped the tissue boxes around them and tore open a new box</p><p>"Are you sure that's enough?" Leo grinned, dodging a pillow Raph tossed at him, squirming around till he was sitting upside holding the former projectile pillow to his chest, "I'd get pizza too if I were you."</p><p>"Great idea!" Mikey shouted back over, "You should get on that!"</p><p>"Oooh extra meat!" Raph agreed</p><p>"And make one Hawaiian! With anchovies!"</p><p>Leo narrowed his eyes at his present brothers, one of whom was still struggling with his onslaught of tears. Twenty-five snarky comments begged for his attention, but his hunger agreed with them, so he settled for a large groan, "FOINE, just give me a moment to care." The snort that escaped his brothers told him how well they knew him</p><p>"Ah, I thought I'd find you here." Donnie was showing signs of another long day in the lab, wearing his favorite dark purple hoodie with a tired but happy expression, "You know, you could save your whole evening by printing off the walkthrough,"<br/>"NO!" Mikey chucked a weapon on Don, but luckily since it was just a used tissue, it didn't make it past of the coffee table, "Don't you dare! This is an exploratory mission! And we're going to see it through to the end even if it takes all night!"</p><p>Donnie rolled his eyes, "Yes of course what was I thinking? Why would I want to spare you hours of fruitless ventures, time you could spend expanding your horizons?" Before giving Leo a look that clearly said, 'You're supporting this?' but Leo could only shrug back with a chuckle shifting around to sit upright reaching out to Donnie whit grabby hands," Come on! Sit with me! Join the madness, I'll rub your shoulders till you fall asleep!"</p><p>"Yes, because I didn't learn my lesson last time when you drew on my face," yes, he was the smartest for a reason," As much as I would love to join you hooligans, I have plans."</p><p>"Are you reorganizing your masks again?"</p><p>"NO, you know I only do that during appropriate lunar phases. "Donnie pulled out his phone and kicked Leo on the thigh, the red slider took hate hint and scooted over. Donnie took his spot on the beanbag, "I've been texting Sunita and she told me about this Yokai Super Store they all use."</p><p>"You mean like a Walmart? A Yokai Walmart?"</p><p>"More like a Yokai Super Walmart, but yes. They have rare food, books, and a ton electronics."</p><p>"DO they have socks?"</p><p>Donnie gave Leo another look as flat as his shell, "yes they have socks, but while you vagrant layabouts lay-a-bout, I will be out amongst the people experiencing the culture of low prices, screaming children and adults acting like juveniles."</p><p>Leo wasn't entirely sure how Donnie was excited about going to a store famous for public defecations, but Donnie was always excited for weird things,</p><p>"Well have fun D. Text us if you need us." Raph said</p><p>"Will you be able to tear away from your pixelated drama fest?"</p><p>Raph spun and pointed at Donnie, "HEY! Don't you diss what happened to Detective Puppy! Or the Pope!" looking to Mikey with new teary eyes" Mikey they don't understand what happened to the Pope!"</p><p>Without looking away Mikey shushed Raph, "Don't listen to them Raph," he climbed up till his was sitting up on Raph's shoulders, using his elbow to pet the top of Raph's scalp, "We will never forget the Pope of Hot Soup."<br/>"NEVER." Raph held his hand up long enough to give Mikey a high five.</p><p>"ANYWAY." Donnie stood up from the beanbag," If I find those organic environmentally friendly spray paints I'll let you know."</p><p>"You are a gentleman and a scholar, "Mikey declared, "Go forth young man!"</p><p>Leo grinned at the weird sideshow that was Mikey and Raph, now that Mikey was balancing a bowl of popcorn on Raph's scalp as Raph continued to dab at his eyes. He was sure that if they could live on the surface, his brothers would be the most popular dorks around. But he hurried to Don's lab in time to see him pull his favorite dark purple hoodie over his battle shell," Hey D, give me a few minutes to get my portal sword and I'll meet you at the- "</p><p>Don popped his head out of his hoodie, twisting his brow at him, 'Why would I do that?"</p><p>"Cause, cause I'm coming?" Leo draped his arm over his brothers' shoulders, "Picture its bro-sift. Two loose twin cannons like us in a Super-Duper Mystic Market, it'd be epic."</p><p>"Yes, I can picture it Leonardo," Don's fingers came up and caught the inside of Leo's elbow, causing his twin to shriek out and jump away in self-preservation, "Of the last three places we've been together in the past week, you've gotten us kicked out of four."</p><p> </p><p>"Four?"</p><p>"Remember, you made us sneak back into Hueso's and he kicked us out again remember?"</p><p>Vaguely. He remembered laughing so hard that he fell over, and Donnie had to drag him home by the ankle. Leo chuckled to himself before snapping out of his marinated memories, in time to jog after Donnie, "If you had ran faster, we wouldn't have been caught."</p><p>"If you hadn't jumped into the pizza sauce, we wouldn't have HAD to run." Donnie turned to face him, "And now, I don't you to come along, I don't need you to. You need to stay here, get me David Tenant?"</p><p>Leo wasn't quite where 'David Tenant' had come from, the only logical explanation was that Donnie had been staying up watching Doctor who again. But didn't have time to say anything else before he realized Donnie had already left. He found himself taking several steps towards the door before forcing himself to pivot around on his heel and take a deep breath</p><p>"LEO WE JUST FOUND ANOTHER LOST ENDING! GET US A PIZZA AND A CASE OF ENERGY DRINKS!"<br/>(#)(#)\/(#)(#)</p><p>Leo had just brought the pizza into the living room when Mikey suddenly shrieked, "DAMN YOU MR SENATOR!" before throwing himself off of Raphael onto the ground, bursting into tears, "I TRUSTED YOU!" Raph scooted to his side and immediately started rubbing Mikey's shell, while trying to stifle his own loud sobs, "He was like a father to us…" Raph agreed.</p><p>"Um…" Leo set the still steaming pizzas on the coffee tables, "Should you guys take a break? I think you're losing your sanity."</p><p>The two turtles looked to eachothers for a moment, but they must have agreed since for the first time in twelve hours Mikey put the game on pause and the two gathered around the table. Leo wasn't sure who looked worse though, the tiny orange one rearranging the mushrooms on his pizza to spell his name, or the giant red one rolling his meat loaded pizza into a cylinder then staring off into distance, "How many endings are left?" Leo asked</p><p>"ten," Mikey answered, "Apparently those the most intense ones."</p><p>"More intense then the Mr. Senator ending?" Leo grinned, before ending on the receiving end of the two most intense glares he had ever gotten from Mikey and Raph, "Too soon?"</p><p>"TOO SOON."</p><p>Leo chuckled into his black olive pizza, struggling not to choke. He looked down to his phone and lit up the screen for a moment before going back to his pizza, "Can't we watch a movie for a little bit?"</p><p>"-Why did you make Hawaiian pizza?"</p><p>Uh oh. Leo looked off to the last pizza, untouched pizza, "its, for me."</p><p>He knew he had said the wrong thing when both Raph and Mikey stopped eating and looked at him. "Leo, you tried to convince Dad you were allergic to pineapples."</p><p>"Ok fine, I figured Donnie would want some when he gets back." before burying his face back into his pizza. Trying to ignore Raph now giving him a look that was only annoying him. Mikey had already gone back to his pizza happily before popping up to his feet, 'I'm getting us some more soda's!" a dhurrie over to the kitchen," Don't play the game without me!"</p><p>Leo kept his gaze reverently on his pizza avoiding Raph's at all costs, but when he reached for another slice, he felt Raph's hand take his," Leo, you have to let this go."</p><p>"Let what go? I'm fine, I'm more then fine. You, my friend, are looking at the image of perfection," Leo stretched out his body, leaning on his hands and giving the most Greek-god-like stance possible, "this is perfection."<br/>"Yeah well, perfection has been staring at his phone for three hours, making pizza he hates" Leo always hated it when Raph used his 'I'm the oldest, therefore I must be wise when dad's not around' voice. Especially from someone who once put tinfoil in a microwave because Donnie told him it would make a rainbow, "Donnie is fine- "</p><p>That's what he knew Raph was going to say. And, as he suspected, it made him grind his teeth in irritation. He pulled his phone out again, "He hasn't responded to any of my text messages. ANY of them. The guy who brags about his texting/typing/and coding speed at any chance he gets?" to be fair, Donnie bragged about A LOT of stuff, "No something is wrong."</p><p>"How many times have you texted him?"</p><p>Leo popped his lips, before unlocking his phone and holding it out to Raph. Only to have it snatched away, "You've texted him thirty-five times in one hour?!"</p><p>"I would have stopped if he had responded." Leo snatched the phone back," He's left me on read, like a Donnie."</p><p>"Because he' probably having fun. Like me and Mikey are, like you should be."<br/>"I AM having fun. What you never understood is that I enjoy being right. And will do anything to prove it."</p><p>The fact that Raph literally threw himself back in his seat with both hands over his face was oddly satisfying, another trait that made him wonder if he was secretly a sadist. After a few seconds Raph jerked back up into a sitting position, "Listen LEON- "<br/>"no, YOU listen." That came out a little more dramatic then he was intending, complete with half standing stance with a finger in his face. He made sure to sit back in his seat, "Look, I know I'm being paranoid. He's perfectly capable of fighting for himself. And I pick on him a bit," Raph gave him a look," ok A LOT, but he's my unofficial official twin. He's my brother. And I know he doesn't struggle like he used to. But" Damn he didn't want to admit this, but it was better then Raph harassing him all night, "You remember how he used to be right?"</p><p>His brother gave him a long look before crossing his arms over his chest, "I do."</p><p>"DO you? Cause before he could barely function. He didn't start talking till he was seven. And even after that, I." How could he say that without sounding like a total sap? "He needs me. When he'd get overwhelmed with the noise, I'd help him to his quiet room. When he started rubbing his hands together, I'd find him something to fix to distract him. He would come to my room in the middle of the night and talk about something random and weird I didn't understand for hours. One time he talked about the science of toothpaste caps till breakfast. It might not have made sense to you, but I knew wit was because there was something he was really trying to avoid. I'm," now for the sappiest part of all, "I'm his safety net."<br/>A strangled noise brought Leo's attention back to Raph. Or rather the now sniveling, weeping mass that had been Raph. He was hugging a crushed tissue box to his chest as though it was a life preserver, "Just stop man, you're making my heart hurt."</p><p> </p><p>Immediately Leo had to fight the urge to laugh at his brother, it wasn't the hexalities coping mechanism, but it was his, instead he turned away with his knees to his chest, "Go ahead, mock me."</p><p>"Never bro." Raph was definitely a bigger man then him metaphorically and physically, "I think it's great. But Donnie can function a lot better now. Isn't it better to know he's doing ok and not hear from him then to hope he's falling apart and not calling you?"<br/>Damn it Raph must have eaten a big bowl of Wheaties or something stimulating today. He hated being told off, in the gentlest way humanly possible. Leo gave his phone one last glance before opening his 'notifications' settings, '" Fine but I'm turning my volume all the way up. and you are too."</p><p>"Ok deal- "</p><p>"And so's MIKEY."</p><p>"Ok ok, I'll tell him when he gets back, Thank you." Raph stood up "I'm going to get us some more sodas, no more harassing Donnie."</p><p>"Cross my heart!" Leo called as his brother left. He dropped his phone on the coffee table. But found himself looking after it. It suddenly felt like a tempting sin rather than an electronic device he primarily used to find memes about Keanu Reeves. With a moan he grabbed the nearest pillow and pressed his face into it before rolling around to face his shell towards the object of temptation</p><p>This was going to be a long night.</p><p>(#)(#)\/(#)(#)</p><p>It might of surprised on a onlooker that Leo had almost forgotten Don had left, and after two hours, sixty endings twelve more tissue boxes, Mikey was a inconsolable mess on the floor unable to string a sentence together that didn't end with "Damn the Senator!" so between Raph and Leo they were able to agree that the night was done. They also agreed to clean up in the morning (or later if they forgot). Raph was the one who carried the broken box turtle to his room. And ,despite drinking half a box of sodas, fell asleep in a few moments.</p><p>"-Did you know that the first emergency service number was 999 and it was used by Britian it was also operator operatoed. Isn't that funny? Operator Operated, but they used a switchboard. I think there was Operator Operated Operations?"</p><p>Having just been dreaming about the Hot Soup Senator trying to steal from his puppy orphanage</p><p>Donnie was indeed sitting on the edge of his bed. And though he was still talking, he was looking to the bedroom wall a foot from Leo's bed. Leo's yanked his legs out from his sheets, "Donnie? What are you doing in here?"</p><p>"-they actually had a big meeting in 1968 with ATT to decide a number, and they chose the numbers 9-1-1."<br/>Leo knew Donnie was still talking to him, but he couldn't stop the impending dread from filling him. It was then he noticed the light bruising on Donnie's left arm, but that was nothing compared to his hands, his knuckles were busted the back of his hands and his palms had large cuts in them that was leaking blood onto Leo's bed, "D-What happened?!" he asked<br/>"-the first phone used to call 9-1-1 is actually on display in a museum in Haleyville- "</p><p>At this point, Leo wanted to shake his brother out of pure frustration. But instead he gave himself a task, first aid kid. They need a first aid kit, "Donnie stay here," his brother was so fixated on 9-1-1 that he doubted he would notice Leo leave. Leo hurried out of the room, stepping in a bowl of guacamole that Raph had been eating from. He kicked it off and while bouncing on one foot, tore off a paper towel sheet and cleaned his foot before tripping into Donnie's /br<br/>It was then Leo realized his room hadn't been Don's first stop</p><p>The pristine room that had been Donnie's was wrecked. Hard worked inventions lay in shambles on the floor with torn up blue prints. He leaned over to Don's sleep nook to see Donnie's loft bed tilted over onto the floor with one of the legs torn off and stabbed through the emitters. With shaking hands, he grabbed the first aid kid kit from under Donnie's busted bust and hurried out of the shambled room.</p><p>"-actually, the Illinois Commerce Commission didn't even authorize 9-1-1 until 1981 and that was a whole story in itself- "</p><p>"Yeeha story huh?" Leo tried to keep his voice level, he moved to crouch in front of his brother, opening the first aid kid "I want to hear the story buddy tell me the story."</p><p>It took a little bit to get Don's hands wrapped up, which was harder since every few seconds Donnie would gesture to add dramatics to his 9-1-1 story. But eventually he had his brothers' hands cared for. He finally took a deep breath. Now that that was taken care of, he had to take care something much harder, "D?"</p><p>For the first time since D had came into his room, his unofficial twin looked at him, "Yes?" Leo knew better then to think he was fully there, either way he had to be careful. He had never seen Donnie like this, which made him even more desperate to help, "D," he wanted to be careful,' What happened?"</p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p>"I mean, what happened?"</p><p>Donnie blinked owlishly at him before glancing down at his wrapped hands, as though it was the first time he had noticed them. For a few moments nothing happened, and all Leo could do was sit completely still. Unsure of what he should be doing.</p><p>Then slowly Don moved his head to rest on Leo's shoulder, it wasn't till a sob escaped him that Leo wrapped his arms around him. Watching his brother succumb to small body rattling sobs. Stroking the back of his brother's head, knowing one thing.</p><p>He was going to murder someone</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The best intentions don’t always get the best results</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A/N I base Donatello's struggles and Autism on my own experience and those of my family members who also have Autism</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <em>Believe it or not, a family of mutants can have a normal morning.</em>
</p><p>
  <em> For eleven year old Leo, that involved a bowl of Lou Jitsu Cereal, drowned in sugar (because the cereal was three years past its expiration date), and a morning of cartoons along his brothers. All crowded around the new projector Donnie had set up a few days ago. Which was a blessing, seeing as up until then they had to make do with an old rabbit antenna tv set that was always green.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Raph laughed loudly at the cartoons a</em>
  <em>ntics just as Donnie joined them, a plate of plain toast in his hands and his newly built tablet shoved under his arm, “Alright who has it?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>'Has what?" Leo said without looking away from the </em>
  <em>screen</em>
</p><p>
  <em> “My headphones,” As usual, even though Donnie was only eleven he spoke as though everyone else was the biggest idiot in the world. Leo never took offense though, if anything he thought it was flattering to be considered that stupid, “It’s 10:00 which means its time for my Ted Talk hour. I need my headphones back.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mikey finally tore his eyes away from the screen before popping up to his feet, ‘Oops! Sorry D, hold on,” he put his bowl precariously on a stack of magazines before hurrying away. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>"See? No worries D." Leo gave his brother one of his smiles, only to be returned with a scowl</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Leo, he took my headphones."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"He borrowed them."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"He took them without permission, I took me weeks to get all the parts I needed from the dump."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Leo knew where this was headed, and unfortunately Raph was a little too wrapped up In the Looney Toons to pay attention to them. He set his bowl down as well before walking over, "D," he thought carefully about what he was going to say, "He took them, but he didn't' do it to hurt you. You know, that right?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Donnie glared at him, but Leo could see the anger and frustration slowly fading from his eyes. It had taken Leo a while to figure out how to calm Donnie down, usually facts did the charm. Information, something irrefutable, a word he had learned from Don, and thankfully Donnie was more forgiving of Mikey then the rest of them.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And it worked like a charm, Donnie took a deep breath," Yeah…yeah, I know…" he exhaled a slowly breath, "he was curious…"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Only cause he's never seen a set of Bluetooth headphones before. Or headphones at all."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Again, Donnie went silent, then nodded, "Maybe…I should make him a pair too."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I bet he'd like that. And if you want to go ahead and make us a third official unofficial twin robot-"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>For the first time Donnie smiled, "That would be a triplet, would you and Raph like a pair too?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"yes!' Raph called from his spot without looking. Mikey hurried back into the living space, headphones in his hands with a guilty look on his face, "I'm sorry D, I cleaned them off with those wipes you like." He held them out to him," I'm sorry."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Donnie again took a small breath and Leo worried that maybe he hadn't calmed down enough but instead Donnie took the headphones back, "Just ask next time."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"I will." Mikey glanced over to Leo before walking back over to their cartoon morning. IT helped that Leo knew Mikey was truly sorry, but out of all their family members he was sure Mikey understood Donnie's situation the least. That was something he had to fix soon before he did something Donnie couldn't forgive. Leo smiled back at Donnie, "See?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em><strong>"</strong>Yeah," Don's eyes fell back on the purple headphones in his hands. Leo knew they were more than just a frivolous gizmo. They not only hooked up to everything electronic in the lair that had audio but also acted as noise filtering headphones when there was too much noise stimulation for Donnie to handle. "I didn't mean to get worked up thanks Leo."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"No prob." And with that the morning almost seemed redeemable. Until Leo gave Donnie a pat on the shoulder with a large grin, "See? Aren't you happy I'm always around to defuse you?" before he went back over to his breakfast, enjoying a morning he would forget by the next morning.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Leo didn't notice the pain that filled Donnie's eyes, or how Donnie stood completely still for several moments before scrubbing at his eyes and hurrying back to his room. Just like no one noticed the muffled sobs that came from his room for a few moments</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Just like Leo didn't 'noticed Donnie changed after that day</em>
</p><p><br/>-now-</p><p> </p><p>Believe it or not, Leo did not like always being right. Well, he enjoyed being right most of the time. It was a sensation he never tired of. But sometimes being right wasn't a great reward.</p><p>Especially after last night.</p><p>The red slider turtle squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on the sound of a gurgling coffee pot and overwhelming smell of the rancid bean drink. It wasn't his favorite smell, but one of Donnie's favorite things in the world. Responsible for many late nights, it was a personal joke for him to try and hide Donnie's coffee maker wherever he could. Mostly to see his official unofficial twin tear the lair apart in a half-awake rage to find it. He didn't' much feel like laughing right now. Right now, he just wanted to make his brother coffee.</p><p>"-but I still don't' get how the Soup Minister found the Soup Princess- "</p><p>"You gotta pay attention Raph, Lou Jitsu was in a love triangle with Minister Minestrone and Princess Pumpkin - Yo Leo! What are you doing up this early? Are you putting dirt in Donnie's coffee again? You know he hates that."</p><p>For a moment Leo couldn't bring himself to turn around, instead he focused on the brown liquid dripping to the coffee pot, "I'm not putting dirt in it."</p><p>"fertilizer again? Seriously? That made him sick last time- "</p><p>Leo turned around, "I'm not making him dirt, or anything! I'm just making him coffee." For a moment, he felt better to see Raph's face slowly fade into confusion. Satisfied, in a way he didn't like, "you ok man? You look awful?"</p><p>"Do I? Gee I hadn't noticed, I was just up half the night with Donnie weeping in my arms then the other half cleaning up his room while he slept in my bed, so no Raphie I bet I do look awful."</p><p>Raph blinked at him, others might have thought his inability to comprehend his words was because of a limited intelligence, but Leo knew better. Raph was capable but morning brain could take down anyone. Finally, it seemed to hit the largest brother, "Is Donnie ok?"</p><p>"NO, he's not, he came home trashed his room, and came to room in mumbling about some weird facts. When I tried to talk to him, he just fell apart."</p><p>"Where's he now?"</p><p>"Sleeping, he cried but after a while he just pulled away and curled up on my bed. I thought it was better to let him sleep there. I checked on his room, a breaking mess even by Splinters standards I picked up whatever I could. I only got done recently then I came in here." Uh oh, he could feel the anger coming back, building in his stomach," I told you something was wrong. I TOLD YOU something bad would happen! And now- "Leo paused, taking a breath, sometimes he forgot to do that when he was riled up, "Now he's home, with a black eye, and I don't know what's going to happen when he wakes up- "</p><p>"This isn't' dirt is it?"</p><p>For a moment, Leo almost forgot whey he was so mad. In unison the three brothers turned towards the sputtering coffee pot to where said Donnie was standing, giving them all a confused if not suspicious look "Which one of you heathens made this?" Before exhausted eyes fell on Leo, "It was you wasn't' it? I got sick last time when you put fertilizer in my coffee- "</p><p>"I- "ok shock over, "NO its just coffee I promise D."</p><p>Donnie narrowed his eyes at him, before looking back to his coffee mug. Sniffing it, "Ok I trust it for now, but if I end up getting poisoned again, I will NOT be happy. Now, if you will excuse me, I have A LOT of work to do." Before exit the room</p><p>For a moment, the remaining group could only stand there, before Mikey spoke up, "Um, yeah Leo he's a total mess."</p><p>"I-He- "it wasn't often he was at a loss for words, but it was known to happen. Instead he waved at Raph and Mikey, "Just give me a minute!" before running out of the room. By the time he reached Don's bed room, Don had already set his cup down and was picking up one of the boxes, "I supposed I should thank you for cleaning this up, soooo consider this that."</p><p>"No problem." Back in the bed room and the remains of everything Donnie had destroyed last night. Now that he was more awake, he could see that, thankfully, the monitors and more complex equipment was undamaged, but Don's personal computer anything else had been broken in one way or another. Don's loft bed had even been knocked over, "I guess you had a rough night?"</p><p>"I guess." Donnie picked through the box before looking to Leo for the first time since he entered the room," Have you seen my phone?"</p><p>Leo thought back to that night before reaching into his satchel, "I found it in here last night, I'm sorta surprised you didn't' have it on you."</p><p>"Thanks." Donnie took the phone from him before setting it on his desk, calmly pulling out the head piece of his bust, and slamming the large piece of metal over phone a dozen or so times with such ferocity Leo leapt back to avoid the showing of metal and glass. He jumped back so far, he collided with the chest of his oldest brother who had come to investigate the noise, "What the hell just happened?!"</p><p>"Uh, "Leo wasn't' quite sure himself, "I think Donnie just destroyed his phone with his own face."</p><p>"Would you two calm down," Donnie called from his spot, "I have extras and it backed up to my server."</p><p>Calming down would have been fun, except he had once seen Donnie yell at a kitten for looking at his phone. But instead he gave Raph a pat on the stomach, "I'll take care of this go ahead.'" Except when he turned to walk back into the room, Raph grabbed his shoulder and yanked him out of the space hard enough to make Leo yelp in surprise. Spinning him till Leo was facing him, two giant hands on his shoulders as Raph glanced back into the bed room then to him, "Look I know you want to help Donnie, and that you're way better at this then I am, but doesn't it seem like you should leave him alone before he treats your face like his phone?"</p><p>"I know Donnie's a little unpredictable sometimes, but I can handle him. It's a twin thing, if there's anyone who can help him chill out it's Leon."</p><p>Raph gave him a look that clearly said, 'do you REALLY have this or are you just saying that to make me go away' but did so anyway. For a few moments, Leo stood at the doorway as Donnie puttered around the boxes. Donnie glanced at his direction with enough heat to stop him. He probably would have stepped closer except Donnie still had a death grip on his bust and it was becoming more and more likely by the second. So instead he took a different approach, "Have you eaten yet Don?"</p><p>"I'll eat later, there's too much work to do."</p><p>"I can see that." He took a step deeper into the room again, "Do you want to talk about it?"</p><p>"No."</p><p>That was about what he expected. Leo moved over to lean on Don's desk. Without really thinking about it, he drifted his hand out to land on his brothers' shoulder, "D, bro its me. It's Leon Neon. You can talk to me ok man? Why don't you tell me what happened at the Yokai Mart? Did you get mad at someone? Did you get lost- "</p><p>"I said no, now let it go. I went out, came back and now I'm working. End of story. Why don't you go calm someone else down?"</p><p>A flush of shame filled him, of course Donnie had heard him say that. But he shook it off, "Come on you know I have to talk that way to Raph he doesn't get you like I do."</p><p>"Yeah you get me, you can read my mind, you can defuse me. Now leave, I have a room to rebuilt"</p><p>"Yeah it needs to be rebuilt because you destroyed it, don't you understand that?!"</p><p>Don's shoulder jerked free of his hand and turned to him, "I understand, Leo because I did it. I know what I did. If it had been or Mikey or even, you none of you would have given it a second thought. But because I have Autism, everyone's freaked out. So, they have to send in the bomb squad."</p><p>"Hey, I'm just trying to help, you're the one who blew up- "</p><p>Before Leo could finish his thought, and to be honest he wasn't sure wanted to before Donnie's hands came up and shoved him hard in the chest. The red slider turtle stumbled back, his shell hitting the desk to his right with a crash before falling onto the ground. His head was spared any contact with the ground, but he looked at Donnie with shock, only to be met with the same shocked expression "Leo-I-I'm sorry are you alright?"</p><p>"Yeah, just a little bruised." He was about to climb to his feet when Donnie quickly took his hand and yanked him up hard enough to make him stumble. He danced for a little bit to keep standing before turning his attention back to Donnie, his eyes swimming in tears. "D- "</p><p>"Can you please go now? I don't want talk anymore."</p><p>"I- "Leo paused," Donnie- "he wanted to argue. He wanted to stay. He wanted to assure Donnie that he was fine, that he was still here to help him. But now his brother was trembling so hard he was afraid he would fall apart altogether. And he knew if he tried to hold him like he did last night, it would only make things worst.</p><p>Donnie didn't want comfort, or a shoulder to cry on</p><p>He wanted to be alone.</p><p>"Ok. I'll go. I'm sorry," Leo took several steps back, unwilling to let his brother out of his sight incase he changed his mind and asked Leo to stay. But he knew better, "I love you bro." he said before leaving through the curtain.</p><p>A moment later he heard Donnie burst into tears for the second time in twenty-four hours.</p><p>And he was left helpless</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"<em>Dee? Double Negative Dee? Punkatello? Swagatello? Don Tron?"</em></p><p>
  <em>Don's thirteen year old eyes bit back angry tears as he snapped towards the curtain of his bedroom," Go AWAY Leo. I'm not the in the mood." It didn't help he was a bundle of nerves in pain, hyper aware of everything around him. Things he had spent years learning to ignore to keep his sanity, the settle humming of the lamp right outside his bedroom curtain, the abhorrent smell lilac detergent from his laundry pile of masks, it had honestly been a accident and he had tried to rub his masks clean(er) but there had been no escaping the smell, everything was pricking at him and tearing him apart all at once. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>And honestly Leo wasn't helping</em>
</p><p>"<em>But I haven't bugged you in at least five minutes! I was missing you!," there was a sudden tapping, Donnie had no doubt Leo had started to dance from foot to foot in a attempt to convey his sincerity "I wanna come in! Come on com onnnn please please!"</em></p><p>
  <em>Leo REALLY wasn't' helping. He was prepared to risk putting on his broken noise canceling headphones and turning on his experimental sound cannon when the sound of dancing stopped. Leos' voice came again but in a whisper, as though talking as close to the curtain as possible to keep from being heard from anyone else, "Please Donnie? Raph's in his room, so he wont know I promise."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Damn it, he could ignore a annoying Leo all day, he had plenty of experience, but what he couldn't ignore a sincere Leo. With a sigh he used his good hand to set aside his blow torch and went to open the curtain. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Somehow giving Leo enough time to get into a handstand, grinning brightly "Ittttt's Leo Neon! Your personal cheer up brother here to brighten the remainder fo your day!" Before clapping the bottoms of his feet together and shifting to stand on one hand,"tadaaaaa!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Donnie stood in the doorway for a moment, with neither humor or any sort of joy "I made a mistake. Go away. "He said before stepping back into his room and throwing his curtain shut. Of course, the problem with having a curtain and not a bedroom door was that Leo just walked right under it after him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>After he finished everything on his list, he was going to look into getting electrified curtains.</em>
</p><p>"<em>I don't even get a giggle for that? Mikey loves that routine! It cheered him up when he lost his Jupiter Jim Gym Towel!"</em></p><p>
  <em>"I don't' want to talk about it," He wasn't sure how many more times he could say that without loosing his mind. </em>
</p><p>"<em>I know that, I'm here to look at your hand."</em></p><p>
  <em>At least he had managed to drop the 'goofy loony tunes' routine. But somehow this was more annoying, because when Leo was concerned about something, there wasn't a force alive that could keep him away. And judging by the way Leo had pulled his first aid kit out from his bag and dangled it in the air, this was no exception.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Donnie slumped into his seat as Leo pulled over a spare milk crate, turning it over and siting down. Don peeled away his purple fingerlesss glove slowly, unfortunately he didn't think to take it off earlier before the swelling started. The back of his knuckles were scratched and had thankfully stopped bleeding a hour ago, but his knuckles and fingers had swollen enough to keep him from using it properly, "Its not broken, I already gave it a X-ray."</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Leo took his wrist and raised his hand up to his eye level, "Doesn't mean we cant' do something to help it." How Leo had become the medical turtle was beyond him. Well, not entirely, Leo was the most annoying one who couldn't stay out of anyone's business. So it made sense, sorta. But he hadn't expected Leo to start carrying around a first aid kit, or actually learn how to use it. Donnie couldn't help but be impressed with Leo survey of his hand, the blue masked turtle started picking through his first aid kid, pulling out a few small items' he'd need, "I," Don bit the inside of his cheek, "I didn't hurt Raph did i?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Leo gave him a incredulous look, "I doubt he even knew what happened. You know how tough his shell is. You could of run him over with a tank and I doubt he'd know. So next time he pisses you off and you want to give him the business, wait till he's not storming off so you don't punch him in the shell "</em>
</p><p>
  <em>That was actually a sound plan, a part of him was relieved that Raph hadn't noticed, but then he was also pissed he hadn't noticed. The two sat in silence as Leo finished cleaning up the cuts on his hand before taking out a ice pack and cracking it, "Hey you don't mind if we hang out do you?" He asked as he wrapped the ice pack in place, "Dad's not going to be back till tomorrow, so Raph is going to be spending all night having group therapy with his teddy bears and Mikeys cooking up with April, you know what happens when I'm left alone. How about we watch some movies in my room? That way we can eat garbage bags of snacks without you worrying about crumbs in your room. "</em>
</p><p>
  <em>AS tempting as it was to say no, a long list of repairs on his wall reminding him of his tasks, he knew that he couldn't work as well without his left hand. He was going to make a reminder for himself to punch with his right hand next time, or become ambidextrous, "Sure why not."</em>
</p><p>"<em>Cool! I'll get the snacks, take your time!" Leo packed up his first aid kit bounced for the door with a shriek of glee. Donnie took a deep breath, thankfully that was becoming easier as time went on. He went through his room and nitpicking on dust particles in his already pristine space, taking time to disinfect his desk for the fifth time in five minutes before sighing again. With each breath it was getting easier to calm down, and the exposed nerves that was his life was becoming more bearable. Maybe he didn't have to burn a whole pile of clean laundry because someone accidentally used 'scented' soap instead of his unscented preference. Maybe he did'nt have to get things done immediately. For the first time all night, he stepped out of his room with a deep sigh. </em></p><p>
  <em>Maybe he was going to be fine. </em>
</p><p>"<em>Donnie! D!"</em></p><p>
  <em>Don's breath caught in his chest, in a way you wouldn't happen when faced with a giant snapping turtle in a bear pj's and arms full of teddy bears and a metal retainer, "Donnie are you ok?!" Lisping with a look of pure concern on his face. Donnie's breathing was becoming more difficult again, the anger that had caused his hand injury threatening to come back, going back to what he and Splinter had talked about years ago. Walk away, walk away if he couldn't handle something, "Not now." He said , swerving around.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>A larger then life hand grabbed his arm, "No we gotta talk now! It cant wait! Please!"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>There it was again, just like a few hours ago. Raph grabbing him by the arm, that look in his eyes that never held anything but love for his family. That look that somehow was supposed to mean everything he did was ok, even the grip in his arm was nowhere near painful but still brought tears to his eyes. He jerked him arm free and spun around, "I said NOT NOW." Loud enough to make Raph stumble back in alarm, "why wont you listen to me?! You NEVER LISTEN TO ME! WHY DOES IT ALWAYS HAVE TO BE YOUR WAY!? I'M NOT NOTHING-"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Leo jumped from nowhere, and by no where we mean from where he dropped a arm full of chip bags and snack boxes, "Raph, lets go come on"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The largest and oldest brother's eyes filled with tears, looking to Leo searching for answers. Doing nothing for the rage threatening to overload, instead he turned and stormed over to Leos' bedroom and ducked behind the curtain. The minute he was out of sight he sat and the ground and closed his hands over the side of his head struggling to control his breathing and moving back and forth as every raw nerve was exposed to the world</em>
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  <em>The curtain flew open as Leo ducked back in, "Here I got your hoodie." Holding it out,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Again, Leos' perceptiveness was terrifying and well received. Donnie snatched his hoodie from him and pulled in on. Drowning in the familiar fabric and smell more effective then any aroma therapy candle. Leo was by his side, at first looking at though he was going to do something but decided against it, "Hug or no hug?"</em>
</p><p>"<em>Don't' touch me."</em></p><p>"<em>Right, no hug doesn't hurt to ask." Leo shifted around to sit cross legged, "I brought your pillows too, do you want those? I can run and get anything else you need,"</em></p><p>
  <em>He decided to not answer, knowing Leo would get the message either way. Instead he focused on himself, breathing pressing his streaming eyes against his knees. He wasn't sure how long he stayed like that, but eventually he found his rocking becoming gentler, and he could finally breath again. He sighed, finally scrubbing his eyes on his sleeve, "you can hug me now if you want."</em>
</p><p>"<em>Thankyouthankyou.' Leo immediately wrapped his arms around him, squeezing him to his chest as though all the 'hugs' he had wanted to give Donnie over the past few days had finally spilled over into one hug. He could feel Leo's cheek on his shoulder and the stress in his breathing </em></p><p>
  <em>He had almost forgotten that Raph and Donnie weren't the only ones in this predicament, </em>
</p><p>"<em>He really didn't mean to upset you D. You know? He has feelings as big as his arms and he was worried about you.."</em></p><p>"<em>He's been harassing me nonstop Leo."</em></p><p>"<em>I know, I was there, I tried to talk to him but he wouldn't listen. But you have to know he wasn't trying to hurt you. He loves you. He thought he was doing the right thing."</em></p><p>
  <em>Of course he was. That was always the excuse, ' he thought he was doing the right thing' how many movies had that caption? His hand came up and gripped his brothers arm, pulling it tighter against him as he rested his scalp against Leo's as another small sob escaped him. </em>
</p><p>"<em>How many meltdowns have you had since Splinter left?"</em></p><p>"<em>Dad's been gone for four days, I've had five meltdowns. "</em></p><p>"<em>That sucks, I'm sorry, I should of noticed."</em></p><p>"<em>Its not your fault Leo. I did'no want anyone to know. I was ashamed." He was even of admitting he was ashamed. For as long as he could remember, anytime he had a meltdown. He could remember the confused looks his brothers would give him, the pain he'd feel but Dad had always been there, reminding him that he had nothing to feel bad about, "I can manage myself just fine, I know how to help myself and when to get help. And when the wiring went out I started to feel better since I had something to focus on. But then Raph came in and started telling me What to do and I-I can't handle that. Telling me to take breaks, telling me to stop telling me to do something else for a bit. I felt like he was trying to take control of me, micromanage me. He doesn't even know what word means."</em></p><p>"<em>Of course he does, or have you forgotten Lou Jitsu's ' Micromanaged Marconi Mafia Movie? He learned a lot of words in that movie. He even learned some that got him in trouble."</em></p><p>
  <em>He surprised himself when a laugh escaped him. It took a minute for him to realize he had finally stopped crying, and his panicked breaths had finally become normal. With a sigh he leaned against his brother. Yes sometimes he was afraid of togetherness, but other times he enjoyed it, "This is a really long hug."<br/></em>
</p><p>"<em>This is nothing, last year when you had the flu Mikey gave me a hug for three hours."</em></p><p>"<em>Three hours?" Don looked to him, "You're kidding."</em></p><p>"<em>He REALLY needed it."Leo tightened his hug for a moment, "How are you feeling?"</em></p><p>"<em>Better, I think. At least for now." A thought hit him, a thought so annoying that he was sure he'd never hear the end of it. But he asked anyway, "I can't sleep with my stupid laundry pile smelling like a pixie fart. And you promised me snacks and movies -"</em></p><p>"<em>You mean a epic Middle Sibling Movie Night?I"m always down for that." Leo gave him one last squeeze before popping to his feet, "I'll get your blankets, pillows and your tablet if I can find it. And if you want, I'll drop off your clothes back in the laundry room. At least until you feel like cleaning them again."</em></p><p>
  <em>Leo was annoying, mostly because he always seemed to read Donnie's mind when he wanted him to the least. But this time he allowed himself to smile before leaning back on the wall and pulling out his phone. Fro the first time since Splinter left, he almost felt back to himself. He'd eventually try and talk to Raph again, if Leo didn't get to him first. He'd try and help Raph understand, and hopefully without Raph crying too would be back in a few hours and would be a perfect distraction for Raph. And he'd spend a night listening to Leo's awful commentary </em>
</p><p>
  <em>He would always be grateful for Leo</em>
</p><p>
  <em>————————————————————-</em>
</p><p>
  <strong>Now</strong>
</p><p>"I don't get it."</p><p>Mikey glanced back to Raph, who was resting comfortably against the the kitchen wall. With a sigh he opened the oven and pulled out a tray of cookies, "what don't you get?"</p><p>"IS Donnie mad at Leo? Did Leo do something wrong?"</p><p>It was a fair question. And it was that very question that had Mikey up three hours early baking. And Why every surface in the lair was now covered in some sort of pastry (he even had a wedding cake balancing on their movie collection. He had been worried about running out of living space, until Raph had come in and taken a tray for himself, "I don't know Raph, I don't think its that simple. If it was I don't think Leo would be this upset if Donnie was just mad at him. I also don't Leo would of spent all night sleeping outside Donnie's bed room."</p><p>Raph ducked his head out of the kitchen for a moment, "I lent him one of my teddy bears but I don't think that helped too much. Do you think if I talked to Donnie I could help?"</p><p>"Honestly dude? Probably not. He doesn't like to be microwaved remember?"</p><p>"Micromanaged." Raph corrected, "But aren't there exceptions to that though?"</p><p>"YOU mean the fact he's Autistic?" Mikey raised a dough covered brow (how he had gotten cookie dough on his face, he had no idea), "Dude what you don't' get is that Dad only visited Don's bedroom once since he went in there, and hasn't tried since. If Dad was worried he'd be right next to D making sure he's ok. But if Dad's not worried, then we gotta try not to be worried either. I'm more worried about the fact I don't think Leos' showered or eaten in a while."</p><p>"Good point. Leo!" Raph called, "Do you want something to eat?"</p><p>He must of said no, since Raph sighed loudly and stepped back into the kitchen, holding out his empty try, "Got any snickerdoodles?"</p><p>"I put some next to Dad's chair, you better get to it before he wakes up." Raph's eyes widen in alarm and ran out of the room. But they both knew it was a lost cause, Master Splinter could smell a oven cookie from a mile away. And judging from the loud Raph like moan and Dad's laughter from the living room, he was already too late</p><p>There was a bing from his phone, Mikey eyed his dirty hands before using his mouth to tap the phone screen and wake up his phone. He had been expecting a update pertaining to his package he had ordered but instead got a single text message</p><p><strong>DonTron</strong>:<strong> Is Leo out there?</strong></p><p>Mikey nearly jumped out of his skin, before poking his head out of the kitchen. Just as it was for days now, when Leo had left Donnies her room he hadn't gone very far. And by very far we mean he took one step out of the room and sat down in front of it. If this had been a cartoon, he probably would of grown a beard at this point to humor how little time had gone. He wiped his hands off on a towel and picked the phone back up,</p><p><strong>MagicMike</strong>: <strong>No, but just give me the word I'll have him running for the hills</strong></p><p><strong>DonTron</strong>:<strong> Please and thank you.</strong></p><p>It took a considerable amount of willpower to not downpour the dozens of questions he had. Instead he rubbed his chin in contemplation before eyeing the fridge with a small grinch like smirk</p><p>A few minutes later, there was a loud shriek of disgust as Leo , for the first time in days, leapt away from Donnies door. His scalp caked in a thick solid that had once been milk." MIKEY!" he shrieked, "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"</p><p>" It's not my fault!" even though it was very clearly Mikeys fault," I was going to throw out some old milk and I tripped on you!"</p><p>" The door isn't even on this side of the lair!" Leo touched his scalp again cringing," What is this?! Did you scramble old eggs, milk and what ever you could find in the trash can!?"</p><p>Mikey gave off his best hauty gasp," How DARE you! I would never do that to one of my brothers!But dude seriously you stink."</p><p>"You think?!" Leo gagged again. Glancing at Donnies room and for a sec Mikey thought Leo would just put up with the smell. But then glared at Mikey,"You know I'm trying to help Donnie, but it seems I'm the only one who cares." Before stomping towards the bathroom</p><p>Mikey finally broke out in a big smile before taking his phone back out</p><p>MagicMIkey: <strong>Coast is Clear</strong></p><p>After a few seconds, the curtain finally parted for the first time in days. Donnie ducked out with a sigh" Thanks."</p><p>" No prob D! " again he had to fight the urge to hug Donnie till one of them broke something. Except the combination of bags under Dons eyes and the slight slump to his stance made him look so exhausted Mikey was sure he'd fall over if he even looked at him too long. Mikey instead bounced back to the island counter in the kitchen ," You want something to eat? I've been baking nonstop."</p><p>" I wondered why I kept smelling a bakery." Donnie walked deeper into the kitchen before sitting at the table, " Got any toast? I've been eating flavorless protein bars so I could use something with a bit more flavor."</p><p>"Only the best toast!" Mikey pulled out a loaf of french bread," Buttered?"</p><p>" Why not let's live dangerously." Donnie glanced towards the doorway. Mikey wasn't sure if he was keeping an eye out for Leo, or maybe even Raph, but he decided to err the side of caution ( a phrase he learned from Lou Jitsu and the Grammar Slammer), quickly slicing up a few slices before buttering them and putting them in the toaster oven. It was the only way to truly make toast. The toaster itself was a fools tool. As he watched the bread darken he glanced at the reflection in the toaster oven door ensuring himself that Donnie hadn't slipped away. But he was still there, leaning on his elbows and playing with his back up phone (Leo had told him how Donnie had crushed his old one) He had to bite his tongue to keep from bombarding him with questions, not wanting to give Donnie a excuse to skip away.</p><p>Finally the toaster oven dinged and he set the perfectly prepared toast on a plate,"Voila! Toast!"</p><p>"You know, making toast isn't that hard."</p><p>"Tell that to -Le-" he froze," You know who. When we worked at Huesos he burnt a piece of toast to ash. And then somehow the toaster turned inside out." For a second he thought the mere mention of Leo was going to send him back to his room. But instead Donnie shrugged," Doesn't surprise me. Remember he melted three easy bake ovens when we were kids?" he took up a piece of toast to take a bite</p><p>"DEEEE!"</p><p>Mikey could of bitten himself for not noticing Leo in the doorway, his scalp covered in soap and water dripping all over the floor. Judging by the empty bottle of moisturizing body wash in his hand, he must of came to accuse someone of using up his favorite body wash. But instead a huge ,if not deranged, smile covered his face ," DEEETHEREYOUARE!" he lunged across the kitchen throwing his wet soggy arms around Donnie and squeezed him," I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU! Are you hungry?! Let me make you food, toast?! Why are you making him toast- I'll make you something!" Leo ran over to the fridge and began digging around," you want pizza right?! Haiwian?! How about turkey you like turkey right?! How About we just have thanksgiving dinner early, that's what you want right?! It'l be fun, it's only eleven months early-"</p><p>For his own sanity, Mikey chose to ignore the ramblings of a turtle desperate to crawl into the fridge and celebrate a holiday they had celebrated last week. Instead he chose to look at Donnie, who was now soaking wet and covered in second hand bubbles all while looking like he wasn't sure what had just happened. Even the toast he had been ready to eat was covered in soap. Don squeezed his eyes shut, his hands resting on the table squeezed into fists. Before Mikey could decide what to do, Donnie brought his fists down on the table with a shout of anger before standing up and storming out of the room. Leo was on his tail a minute later, the food he was carrying in his arms dropping as he went. Leaving a continuing trail of food and soap ," Donnie wait it's ok! It's-" Mikey could only assume that Leo's abrupt silence was Donnie disappearing back into his room. Leo was back a moment later,"What did you say to him?!" the soapy turtle demanded</p><p>" What?! I didn't –"</p><p>" Ohhooo no you said something to upset him! I know you did!"</p><p>Mikey could honestly say he was speechless, not just because Leo was still dripping a ton of water and soap everywhere, but because of his nerve,"You might find this hard to believe LEON but he was actually fine until you came in."</p><p>" Don't give me that, he was pretending to be ok to make you feel better. So what did you do?!"</p><p>A loud whistle broke through the kitchen immediately cutting off Leo's argument. The source of the interruption coming from the entrance to the kitchen where Splinter stood, Raph by his side watching the whole situation while chewing on a snickerdoodle with a anxious look on his face, " Both of you stop! You're making Red one stress eat."</p><p>" I-am not!" Raph whimpered out before taking another handful of cookies and trying to shove them all into his mouth as his eyes filled with tears," I-I love cookies…"</p><p>Splinter pinched the brim of his nose with a huge sigh," I had hoped that you boys could fix this on your own. So, as usual, it's up to me to save the day again. You three are to leave the lair for the rest of the day, go get pizza or something"</p><p>" Great idea dad, and while they're gone I can fully focus on helping Donnie." Leo said frantically</p><p>" No, three does not mean two. You're going to stop covering the lair in soap and go with them."</p><p>"Nono, what you all fail to see is that my plan is working, he came out of his room!"</p><p>Mikey crosses his arms," Only cause he texted me to make sure you were gone."</p><p>" What?! He texted you?! I texted him seventy five times and he never texted me back!"</p><p>"You texted him seventh five texts in two days?!" before Leo averted his eyes," You sent him seventy five texts in the past hour haven't you?"</p><p>Leo let loose a nervous laugh before giving heir father a weak smile" Dad, the phone bills going to be a little more then usual…."</p><p>Splinter unleashed a shriek of frustration, proving once and for all that Splinters hair had not gone prematurely early from anything other then having four sons," If you don't clean up your mess, finish your shower and go with them in the next ten minutes, you're going to be popping zits off my back for a MONTH."</p><p>The cruelest punishment that could ever be given to them, but with that threat Leo ran out of the room with a shriek and threw himself into the bathroom</p><p>
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</p><p>Splinters threat had enough power to not only have Leo retake his shower and clean up his mess in two minutes but it also kept him away from Donnies bedroom. Sure it didn't stop him from standing at the edge of the entrance and watching the same spot until Raph drug him out the door all with Mikey walking ahead stomping in a way that told Leo he was still peeved at him. Luckily Raph picked up on his negative emotions and walked along with him, talking about a cool hoodie he had seen online. Leo made sure to walk a few steps behind, his thumbs hooked into his belt with his shoulders slumped. He glanced at his phone one time and saw that all the messages he had sent Donnie had still been unread.</p><p>It didn't take long for the three to reach Hole-In-The-Wall pizza, and even though it was moderately busy it wasn't hard for them to get a booth. Leo recognizes a few of the waiters and customers. There was the fly guy, the skeleton guy that wasn't Hueso who was talking to that one dragon he didn't really know, and that weird guy that looked like he was made of jelly. Hueso was having a word with the dragon and the other skeleton when his eye sockets fell on their table and with it his smile, "Oh no."</p><p>" Hey Hueso!"Raph waved, "We're ready to order baby!"</p><p>Hueso gave a long. Suffering sighed, as though owning a restaurant for x number of years had not prepared him for having them as customers. Instead he pointed to the skeleton and the dragon," You two, decide amongst yourselves whose helping them."</p><p>The two looked almost panicked, ok fully panicked, quickly playing a game of rock paper scissors, the dragon must of lost because the skeleton punched the air with a joyous shout and started to do some sort of victory dance, "Bite me Karlos," bit the dragon. The dragon walked over pulling out a order pad, " Welcome to Hole in the Wall Pizza, my name is Lennox and I'll be taking your waiter. Lennox, may I take your order!"</p><p>"Lenny! My man!" For a second all signs of Mikeys anger was gone as he nearly climbed over Raph to get a seat closer to Lennox" How do your claws look?"</p><p>The dark blue dragon roller his eyes before holding out his hand, his claws had been painted maliciously in a swirl of dark blue and grey " They look fine Micheal,"</p><p>"Next time i'm painting them something with sparkly," his eyes drifting up to his antlers, " Maybe-"</p><p>" Don't push it, what do you guys want to eat?"</p><p>Leo laid his head on the table, " a giant pineapple pizza please."</p><p>Mikey stopped looking over Lennox''s claws before looking over to Raph the two sharing a bewildered look before Raph poked Leo in the head, "Dude, didn't you say pineapple was the scourge of the earth and if someone tried to threaten you with eating one bite you'd sell us all out in a heartbeat?"</p><p>"Yes and its what I deserve." He titled his head to look to their dragon waiter, "extra pineapple, replace the cheese with pineapple and that'll be it for me uncooked if you can."</p><p>"So you basically want pineapple on raw dough?" Asked their waiter</p><p>Leo raised his hand up in a thumbs up. Though bewildered, his brothers ordered their own food and their waiter left towards the skeleton, who was still doing some sort of awkward victory dance. Only then did Leo raise his head again, "Mikey, I'm sorry about before. I know it wasn't your fault Donnie went back to his room. I'm the one who overwhelmed him. Its my fault this whole thing even started."</p><p>Mikey leaned back in his seat, his arms crossed and cheeks swollen, a full example of 'trying to act mad' before his face fell, "Thanks, but why do you think that?"</p><p>"Isn't it obvious? He's mad at me. He's been mad at me, that's why he didn't want me to go with him to Yokai Mart, its why he did'nt want my help when he got back and he he's still avoiding me. Its all my fault, I should of seen it sooner." Before pressing his face back into his arms with a loud groan, "I'l be back.." before rolling out of his seat and crawling towards the bathroom. If Donnie had been there, he would of surely ran out fo the restaurant screaming in panic at such disregard for personal hygiene. Except Raph had once found a lollipop on the underside of a tale and ate It with no problem. Instead he sighed, and looked over to Mikey, "So Donnie is mad at him?"</p><p>"I don't think so bud, if Donnie was just mad at someone he wouldn't' be hiding in his room. He'd be out in the lair moaning and dropping hints all over the place. He's not exactly 'Doctor Delicate Touch' like I am"</p><p>Raph let out a giant moan before dropping his head on the table with a loud enough clang to draw the attention of the next table over. Mikey made sure to give them a reassuring grin before poking Raph in the scalp," Dude if we keep banging our head on the table then we're going to break it."</p><p>"Remember when Dad had to leave for a bit? He was having trouble with his bank and he had to go. I thought it was going to be awesome, but Donnie had a hard time dealing with Dad being gone wihtout knowing ahead of time. I thought I could help by giving him some structure. Then all the wiring started to fail, and he started to freak out when I tried to help him. He got so mad at me I think he punched a wall or something, Leo was the only one who could help him. I never really got Donnie I guess. Not like Leo did. Ever since we were kids he always got him you know? But every time I tried I always made things worst. Hell even you understand him better then I do."</p><p>"Yeah, I do." Mikey agreed, "Even though you didn't think I did."</p><p>"Sorry, I just thought if I didn't understand Donnie then you didn't either. But I guess I just tried to make myself feel better."Raph raised his head, "How do you do it? Every time I try to help him it ends up in a argument."</p><p>"I don't know man, Donnie's not so hard to understand once you stop thinking about it for a sec and just treat him like your brother. You're fine when you're not overthinking it. Like with Mayhem. I bet he'd stop scratching your face if you'd stop trying to smother him all the time."</p><p>"I dunno, maybe." Raph looked towards the waiters at the kitchen doors, the other skeleton had a gym back with him and ducked away towards the bathroom, he had never met Lennox and only heard his name from Mikey, who apparently begged him for weeks to let him paint his claws. Like a few of the other dragons he had seen Lennox was as tall at him, but his body wasn't as thick, his black hair was tied back in a pony tail and his antlers weren't nearly as long. Mikey had mentioned he was in High School, "If I order a bunch of cookies are you going to judge me?"</p><p>Mikey smiled and patted his brother on the , "Only if you don't share."</p><p>
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</p><p>Leo couldn't help himself</p><p>Truth be told was grateful he had held out as long as he had. He had tried to expel some anxiety by scrubbing his hands but all that did was accidentally remove his fingerprints. Leo dried off his overly scrubbed hands and leaned on the empty bathroom sink and took out his phone pressing Dons number. Like the last few dozen times he called, there was no response, instead it was Dons voicemail," D, it's me again. How are you feeling? If you're hungry I can bring you something from Huesos? How about a nice square hawaiian pizza? Just txt me back ayes or no ok? Or not I'll just bring you back one anyway-"</p><p>*<strong>the user inbox is full at this time goodbye</strong>*</p><p>With a loud groan he spun and dropped his forehead on the bathroom granite sink. It really was his fault. Entirely , he thought back to everything he did. Was he too pushy? Too nosy? Did Donnie suddenly not like pizza anymore? Was it cause he couldn't find Donnies purple hoodie? He had looked for that damn thing everywhere.</p><p>"Dude, mind if I wash my hands?"</p><p>Leo nearly jumped out of his shel, unsure if the skeleton waiter had just came in or maybe he had been standing there the whole time watching Leo's entire one-sided conversation. But his expression didn't betray anything other then a bit of unease. " Yeah sorry," Leo steppes out of the way. He recognized the skeleton as one of the waiter/delivery boys who he usually saw standing with Mikey's dragon friend. Unlike Hueso, this skeleton had hair that had been tied back into a stubby ponytail, changed out of his work uniform into a t-shirt with a band name in spanish on it (hero's de silencio? Or something ) and a large sports bag large enough to hide Raph in. he dried off his hands, "Thanks," he grabbed his bag stumbling for a moment as the handle tore, "Mierda!" He grabbed it again by around the middle , and hurrying out the door all while trying to zip the bag back up desperately.</p><p>In the next Leo froze, but only for a second before he shoved his phone back in place and walked out the bathroom door. The skeleton, Karlos, was waving at Lennox before walking out the front door. He ignored Raph call after him with a wave of his hand," Getting fresh air, " he called before hurrying out the portal, Karlos was on one knee, holding a pendant in his hand and digging through his bag. Looking to him with a infused look,"Uh hey dude is everything-"</p><p>"Where did you get that hoodie?!"</p><p>"What are-"</p><p>His patience was gone, not spent up but shoved deep in a place where he couldn't use it. Instead he used that same energy to shove the skeleton hard in the torso, sending him flying back hard on the ground. Leo knelt down and grabbed Karlos's bag, shifting through the numerous jerseys, Soccer ball, a hockey mask and extra strength deodorant, the said skeleton was already on his feet, "Are you crazy!?"</p><p>"Where's the hoodie!? Dark purple with burns on the sleeves, looks like its never been washed even though its been washed twenty five times a week sine it was bought. I just saw it where is it?!"</p><p>Karlos's eyes narrowed, as much as empty sockets could, Leo wasn't sure what he was about to say. A excuse, a reason. It could have been anything</p><p>The only thing that was certain, was that before Leo knew what he was doing, his fist was swinging.</p><p>
  <strong>a/n</strong>
</p><p>Hope you enjoyed :3</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>When Don's call failed again, he could barely keep his eyes from spilling over, "Damn it." He scrubbed his eyes on the back of his sleeve before holding the same sleeve over his eyes. It was getting harder to breathe and more so to hold on the remains of his sanity. </em>
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  <em>He never called himself stupid lightly, and now he did so in every language he knew (fictional and otherwise). He had to know the Yokai Mart would have had some sort of mystic security measure to have such a large structure in the middle of a human city. They must have used some magic to act as an electronic magnetic shielding. That way if a human did get into the Store, they wouldn't be able to take pictures or call anyone. IT would give the owners enough time to find the intruder and take care of it while only being a minor inconvenience to the Yokai and Mutants. They assumed that the usual customers didn't use their cellphones enough, or didn't have one, to really be an inconvenience</em>
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  <em>Don desperately tapped on his wrist tablet again, but the screen remained blank. For extra measure he hit the tablet with the side of his fist before letting out a main of frustration. HE put his hands over the side of his now pointless headphones, desperate to block out the noise </em>
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  <em>He couldn't think</em>
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  <em>He couldn't breath.</em>
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  <em>All the buffers he had set up to protect him from the world were taken away in a matter of seconds</em>
</p><p>"<em>Got a problem man?"</em></p><p><em>The only thing that could pierce his panic was a sliver of annoyance as he looked over his shoulder. He had noticed the group earlier when he had first entered the store. Before he had noticed his gear had failed. He hadn't been sure what kind of Yokai they had been at first, but when he had first started panicking, he hadn't noticed them following him at first. Instead he had focused on his technology, desperately trying to get his noise cancelling features to work again. Even with his muffling mask, the noise of screaming angry children and people around him were too much to handle. Now though he could see they were some sort of bug types with giant bulging eyes and a quivering tubular palpus for a mouth. The tallest of them had a sickly green slushie in his hands, whether they were teenagers or just young adults he couldn't tell. But either way he forced a smile at them he had become too good at learning how to smile when he was falling apart, "No, now if you don't mind. </em> <em> <strong>Shoo</strong> </em> <em>." Before going back to his phone. He increased his pace, moving through the aisles, he needed space and a quiet place to refocus. But every aisle had some sort of commotion, one had an Octopus and her octuplets, one had a dragon and skeleton arguing about cheese. He took his phone out again and pressed Leo's number trying to ignore the last twelve times he had tried to make the same call-</em></p><p>
  <em>HE was so wrapped up in his latest failed phone call that when a rough arm slung around his neck yanking him close to a fly that smelled overwhelmingly like skunk from the sixties , "Come on man you look tense let us help you-"</em>
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  <em>Course, even in his state Don had thousand comebacks just based on the 'helpful' fly's appearance alone. But before he could say anything, icy slush filled the back of his hoodie. The stark cold made him cry out and pull away as the flies laughed loudly, Don squirmed out of his hoodie and threw it away, but most of the ice was stuck in his shell. He hugged himself tightly his body an exposed nerve trembling. </em>
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  <em>Focus on math</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Focus on equations</em>
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  <em>Focus on something. Anything Keep it together, don't melt down now. </em>
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  <em>He finally settled on PI; he went through the first two hundred numbers before he felt the pounding in his head slow down. HE could do this, all Don had to do was pull himself together and get out-</em>
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  <em>Then, one of the Flies smirked, "See? Told yah didn't' I, he's a ret- "</em>
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  <em>After that everything Shattered</em>
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  <em>Don knocked out the speaking Fly with a single punch, sending him flying into a shelf, before he his vision exploded in lights from a similar hit. Blinded he threw his hands up to protect his face before his palms hit a shelf and pain followed. He hissed loudly and drew his hands back under his arms, tucking his head to his chest. </em>
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  <em>He half expected to have the rest of the Yokai on him, instead he felt a pair of hands grab him by the shoulder and lift him off the ground, setting him a few steps back so instead he found himself standing behind a familiar skeleton in a black hoodie, "YOU gilipollas! You want to start a fight with someone how about me!?" he said holding up a mop with the price tag still attached to it, "Try it"</em>
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  <em>One of the flies was holding up his hand to his panicked bleeding face stumbling back before setting off running his friends limped after him leaving a puddle of slushie blood. Or at least that's what he could as his left eye started to swell stuff. Between that and his now aching hands </em>
</p><p>"<em>You ok man?"</em></p><p>
  <em>Don hadn't even realized skeleton had walked up to him until a hand touched his shoulder. His whole body bristled as he jerked away. THE threat was gone, he had to focus on that. Regain control-all of sudden a dark blue dragon appeared around the corner, looking around till they fell on the skeleton with the most annoyed look he could make, "Karlos what did you do?!"</em>
</p><p>"<em>Those looser were ganging up on him! I couldn't do nothing- "</em></p><p>
  <em>Loud. Why did they have to be so loud? Everything was so loud, the lights, the people, he squeezed his eyes shut pressing his hands over the sides of his head. Before he knew it, he was down on his knees, curled up into himself.</em>
</p><p>"<em>Are you ok?"</em></p><p>"<em>Karlos-stop he's having a meltdown."</em></p><p>
  <em>They were talking about it him. He hated when people talked about him. But he couldn't stop them. He could only rock himself softly. Trying to ignore them the best he could but it was hard to when they were standing right in front of him. The dragon had a grip on the skeleton called Karlos, probably to keep him from getting closer. Whether because he understood Don needed space, or because he was trying to keep his friend under control. </em>
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  <em>The dragon stepped away before looking at him, "Do you have anyone here with you?" he asked in a soft tone. Some how he hated it, it reminded him too much of a certain spikey brother. Trying to be understanding but only coming off as condescending. </em>
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  <em>He had to answer, but he barely had the willpower to look at him. Instead Don shook his head. Trying not to think about how hard Leo had begged to go along with him. </em>
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  <em>But there was nothing to change that now. His breathing was leveling out again, but his body was quaking. He moved to his knees and slowly rose back up to his feet. "TH-nks." He managed out before turning away. This time the dragon didn't manage to stop Karlos from moving past him. But at least he didn't try and grab him, Karlos moved to his line of vision without touching him, "Can I at least walk you home? Please? I know you can probably handle it, but I'd feel better."</em>
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  <em>Again, there was a tone, less like Raph, gratefully less like Raph, and more comforting. Like a certain brother who didn't know how to shut up. As much as he didn't want to, he nodded. Before wrapping his arms around himself, he couldn't stop trembling. Both from tying not to meltdown and ice still melting down the back of his shell. </em>
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  <em>Karlos must of noticed, he shrugged off his black hoodie to reveal a large hockey jersey with the words 'Slam Hockey' on it (He was sure that wasn't a real sport, but he wouldn't know) "I promised I just washed it, do you want to wear it?"</em>
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  <em>He wanted to say no, but all he could managed was a shrug. Karlos set it over his shoulders. Thankfully it had the same fabric as his favorite brand and lacked any strong fabric softener that would send him spiraling again. He held the hoodie close around him, walking ahead. He barely noticed Karlos calling back to his friend to tell their boss he was going to be late. Instead he focused on one step at a time. </em>
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  <em>Donnie wasn't sure how long he had been in the mart, but it was still dark out when they left. Karlos kept a few steps off to the right, at first, he thought it was because he didn't want to be seen with him. But then realized the skeleton was trying to give him his space. Other then a drunk who had tried to use a trashcan as a toilet, they didn't have to worry about humans. When they got closer to the sewer lid on Eastman street, Don waved him off, shrugging off his hoodie and disappeared beneath the surface. He felt bad for not being able to say thank you. Someone he might never see again.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But all that moment, he was driven on one thing. Getting home.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And pulling himself back together</em>
</p><p>(#)(#)\/(#)(#)</p><p>Leo had many trophies to his name, including the Lair Games medals he won. But his favorite prize had been his 'World's Biggest Idiot' crown, something Donnie had made him after he had eaten a bowl of plastic fruit on a dare. He had refused to take it off for almost a month, and occasionally, he'd jump out of his room with his too small crown and yell' Hail to the king!' just to hear his brothers moan in annoyance . TO him it was a joke, but it was moments like these where he truly earned his crown.</p><p>Not just because he had thrown his fist at a waiter from Hole in the Wall Pizza. But because when he had thrown his fist, he had forgotten something very important</p><p>And that that was the person he was punching, a skeleton around his age had a giant duffle bag full of sports gear. And that, despite having a heavy burden, he was surprisingly quick. Karlos ducked down before swinging his bag around, catching Leo in the torso and sending him back several feet till his shell hit the wall of the restaurant, "What the hell is your problem idiot?!" Karlos demanded, "DO you always attack random people?!"</p><p>"Shut UP. I know what you did." Leo was back on his feet</p><p>"That makes one of us- "</p><p>Leo closed the space between them in less than a blink swinging his leg, Karlos used his arm to cushion the blow but stumbled off to the side, struggling to retain his footing before he hit the ground again. Leo had only just gotten ready to pin him to the ground when Karlos put his hands on the ground beneath him and, with all the skill of a breakdance swung his legs around. Leo stumbled back to stay standing, but Karlos was around punching him again, before Leo could do anything Karlos punched him hard in the ribs, "Calm DOWN!" he shouted before his other fist finished the attack with another hit, knocking the air completely out of Leos lungs, Leo kicked the skeleton away hugging his chest as he struggled to breath. He half expected Karlos to jump on him as he wheezed painfully but instead Karlos had taken a step back watching him with a critical eye. Though his ribs were tender they didn't seem to be broken. He made a point to glare at Karlos who was watching him with a critical eye Was he seeing if he had time to get away? Or just making sure he had hurt him?</p><p>It was his mistake either way</p><p>Leo reached out and grabbed one of the trashcan lids, Captain America eat your heart out! He turned his body away before doing a half spin and stepping forward.</p><p>Unfortunately, he hadn't considered that in a fight that even the two seconds it took to grab the trashcan lid and start to spin was almost lifetime, and in that short amount of time, Karlos had dove for him gym bag, pulling out a hockey stick and swung hard at him. Leo tripped over his feet for a sec, but this time managed to keep his footing, bring back up his weapon again, "I'm going to break your skull." He gritted through is teeth</p><p>Karlos glared hard at him, "That's it, se acabó lo que se daba!" before swigging out his hockey stick to the side, a moment later the blade of the hockey stick erupted in a green flame that overtook Karlos's skull and filled his eye sockets</p><p>For the first time since the fight started, Leo REALLY regretted leaving his sword at home</p><p>(#)(#)\/(#)(#)</p><p>Donnie was a man of science. But that didn't mean he didn't love other things. He had learned early on that dancing was fun, even if his form of dancing was just flapping his arms and kicking around. Reading had quickly become another one of his joys, Splinter would sneak them both into the library at night a few days a week just so he'd have access to as many books as he wanted. Until he became old enough to wear a disguise and go in himself. Shakespeare, The Book of PI, Harry Potter, he read everything he could get his hands on.</p><p>So, the fact he closed his copy of 'King Lear' with a sigh and tossed it to the foot of his bed was enough to make him groan in anger and roll over, burying his face into his pillow. He could feel dust growing on all his projects, and Sheldon's judgmental eyes from his charging station. Just like he felt Leo staring at his room, pacing. Probably with that annoying concerned look on his face that was too sincere to be fake.</p><p>He gave off a shriek, muffled by his pillow before flopping back onto his shell, "Donatello Jitsu Hamato, Genius, physical perfection, hermit." With lack of options, he considered digging out his old calculus textbooks when he heard his phone go off. He hadn't received a text from Raph since this whole thing started, but Leo had sent him no less then seventy-five that day. Mikey had been the only one to show any restraint other than sending him a few memes. That was the only reason he had picked up his phone. But instead of another science meme (and ignoring the twenty-five messages pending from Leo) he got a picture from Splinter a picture of his favorite mug that read '√-1 2³ Σ Π... and it was delicious!' at first, he was confused, till he recognized the curtain sitting behind it. Curious, he slid off his bed and went over to his doorway and peered around till he saw his mug sitting right next to his entrance. Though it was empty, he could hear someone shuffling around in the kitchen. The mug was an invitation, one he could turn down if he wasn't up for it.</p><p>With a sigh he took up his mug, truthfully if he didn't feel up for it, he knew he could just crawl back in his bed without concern of hurting anyone's feelings. But instead he took a deep breath and walked for the kitchen.</p><p>The Lair was hauntingly quiet, other than the ruckus in the kitchen, in a way that told him his brothers were gone. He had already known that though. Donnie enjoyed silence in his own room (except for when he was blasting music) but it was strange to see his home so quiet. Lacking the laughter, shouts and roughhousing he grew up with. Knowing that at any moment one of his brothers could tackle him and start a dog pile of wrestling and laughter. He tried to ignore the knots forming in his stomach with a deep breath, stepping into the kitchen. Splinter was standing on top of three boxes at the stove, stirring something around in two different pans, "aw purple!" he beamed, "I wasn't sure if you'd come out, I made you a treat!"</p><p>"thank you." It felt like De-ja-vu to sit in the very spot he had been in a few hours ago when he tried to leave his room the first time, again the silence was suffocating, and he was almost afraid to ask, "Did the guys leave because of me?"</p><p>Splinter let out a loud laugh, "No way! They were driving me nuts, so I threw some money at them and kicked them out for a few hours."</p><p>That wasn't so bad, well it wasn't good that his brothers were driving their dad crazy. But at least Donnie hadn't driven them away, he left out a soft breath he hadn't realized he had been holding as he let some tension out of his shoulders. Splinter took his mug and poured out some hot chocolate into his cup before using the outer pan to pour out some whipped cream and setting it back by Don's hands, "Time for Daddy's patented Heart Ache Chocolate! But be careful, its hot!"</p><p>"Thank you." he took the mug up into his hands, even if he preferred coffee nothing could beat one of Dad's 'Heart Break Chocolates'. None of them knew how their Dad had come up with the recipe till after they had found out he was really Lou Jitsu. Only then did their Dad say he had invented his own Hot Chocolate recipe to cope with his numerous rejections when first becoming an Actor. Now it was just a treat for their family. And even if Don couldn't drink it at the moment, he enjoyed the warmth of the mug against the palms of his hands, "I don't want to talk about its Dad."</p><p>"Did I ask you to? I just want to make sure you ate something and wanted to make some hot chocolate. Now do you want cookies? Orange made a small bakery while you were recuperating."</p><p>Wait, how did he not notice that almost every surface in the kitchen was covered in some sort of baked good? (Was that a wedding cake on the trashcan?) "Did he make sugar free sugar cookies?"</p><p>"Your favorite." Splinter set out a plate and began to pile it with the cookies on the breadbox, "The only cookies I will never eat."</p><p>Despite himself, Donnie smiled. They were his favorite, and just by sniffing his cookie and the drink he could tell they had used the minimal amount of sugar. IT wasn't that Donnie didn't like sugar or flavor, but he often got sensory overload, even a strong-smelling hand soap could get to him. Which is why he had a whole cabinet in his room full of scentless cleaning products and even his goggles/headphones were designed with noise canceling capabilities in mind.</p><p>Actually, he had designed them when Splinter had told them they were ready to go to the surface years ago. He had been scared of becoming overwhelmed and getting in the way. And when they were done building them, he had been so proud of himself. So had his family</p><p>Well most of them.</p><p>He could remember Raph with his 'overly concerned' look in his eyes. Which wouldn't have gotten to Don, except for that night when he heard Raph talking to dad, saying how it was dangerous to muffle his senses on the surface. What if he turned the volume off altogether and got hit by a car? What if he couldn't hear someone yelling a warning to him? He could get discovered, or worst.</p><p>It was a long story, but eventually Raph came to accept that when they were allowed to explore the city to their hearts content, Donnie would be with them.</p><p>Dons' eyes burnt for a moment before he looked back to his drink, finally allowing himself a sip. IT was still a tad too hot, so he spent a few moments blowing into the hot contents and eating at one of the sugar cookies. Splinter was humming happily around the kitchen, taking advantage of the numerous sweets and loading a plate with cupcakes and a little bit of everything. Don was grateful his Dad was respecting his wish to not talk about</p><p>"We were lucky you know." Oh, never mind. He lied. Despite the sour look Don gave his father, Splinter still sat down with his plate, "Very lucky. Growing up I was an only child; I was never around a lot of children. And one day, I find myself the father of four baby boys. It didn't take long to realize you were each very unique in your own way. Orange was constantly trying to paint electrical outlets, Blue thought my underwear was a blanket, and Red bit me so many times I thought he was getting a taste for flesh," Donnie couldn't help but snort at that one, that seemed very on point for their snapping turtle brother, "What they had in common was being loud and chaotic, always running opposite directions to do something to make me nuts. I swear that I had black hair at first, but by the time you heathen were four I had more gray hair then my grandfather did. But thankfully, you were different."</p><p>Here we go,</p><p>"You were quiet, even when you were a baby. By the time you could sit up on your own you were already sorting out colors. Even when you were a toddler, you never threw a tantrum. I was concerned by the fact you never sought me out when you hurt yourself. You never looked at me when I said your name, I could sometimes get you to react by calling you Purple" Splinter had a soft smile on his face, lost in the memories of their early lives. Don could only remember a little of that, more than his brothers did, he could remember the satisfaction of sorting out his toys but that was about it., "I thought you were just my Purple Boy. My only easy child, the only one who wasn't horrified at bath time. Btu the older you four got the more I started to notice that maybe you weren't silly. Namely that even though Mikey was a year younger than you, that he was already talking. I couldn't get you to eat something different no matter what I did, and I sometimes just had to be content with you eating a few oyster crackers. One day, the generator overloaded and short circuited. It made a noise loud enough to make everyone jump, even me. But your brothers just laughed when they realized everyone was fine."</p><p>"Yeah." Don picked the mug back up, "Not me though."</p><p>"No, I couldn't find you after that. Not for an hour till I found you under just outside the Lair in the sewers, rocking yourself with your hands over your ears, crying. It terrified me to the center, first at the concept of losing you, then the fact you wouldn't let me comfort you nearly broke me. " Splinter looked to his mug, and Don couldn't help but feel guilty for the pain he had caused him, even though he had been young at the time, "At the time when I needed help with parenting then I turned to the internet, as most people did. I found a forum for new parents, I never told them who we were obviously, but we shared stories and advice. When I told them, what was going on with you- "</p><p>"-One of the parents recommended that I might have Autism, I know the story Dad. One of the bitchy parents kept telling you that you had to 'fix' me early so no one would know I was different. And that's the story of how I ruined your lives- "</p><p>"PURPLE," Splinter pointed at him, "We talked about that didn't we?! You're not allowed to say things like that. You can say things that are true, like Raph's fear stink makes people pass out, but your disability ruining anyone's life is utterly false."</p><p>Don had only ever been scolded three times in his life, atlases in a serious manner. This was something he had accidentally slipped when he was twelve and at the time, he had seriously thought Splinter was angry with him. But the look in his eyes weren't that of an angry parent</p><p>Like last time they were brimmed in pain</p><p>The pain of a parent who loved a child who didn't love themselves.</p><p>Dom sank into his seat under the weight of his guilt, "I'm sorry Dad."</p><p>"I- "Splinter sat back with a sigh, "No my son, I'm sorry. I did not mean to speak to you like that. You were right about the bitchy parents. They kept telling me I was lucky because we found out you had Autism early that I still had a chance to, "Splinter paused, "To make you normal. A couple other parents on the forum agreed, they wanted to me agree too. But I didn't want you to change. I loved you so much the way you were. You were hilarious, smart, you were Purple. More than anything I was scared you wouldn't love yourself, and I decided then that I couldn't listen to what those other parents told me. I only stayed in contact with one of the parents after that incident, they were the only parent who didn't want me to 'fix' you. They were a child psychologist who had their own autistic child with their partner. they recommended reading materials and gave me advice on how to help you. Things that would help you grow but not change who you were. And at the time as a single rat dad in the middle of the sewers without access to any basic medicine or therapy, they were the second-best thing."</p><p>Donnie didn't want to repeat that he had heard this story before, ever since he was old enough to understand what it meant to have a disability, "I just," he had already drunk his entire hot chocolate, but he focused on the chocolate pieces still stuck to the bottom, too thick to float to the top. His eyes were burning uncontrollably as he took a deep breath," Dad I try so hard to not let my problems get in the way….but no matter what I do…" he let his sentence drift off as he lowered his head onto the table.</p><p>There was a scraping of cardboard that drew his attention back to the table and the box of unscented tissues. Though it hurt his pride, his eyes were burning so bad he took a few into his hands, more for their textured comfort then anything</p><p>"You don't need to overcome anything just because you were born different. You need a bit more help than other people might or even more than your brothers sometimes. But you have a family who loves, accepts you and are willing to help you. Even if they can be completely overbearing"</p><p>"You mean Leo."</p><p>"You know, he thinks you're mad at him. He thinks he did something wrong."</p><p>"He, "Don took a deep breath, "I kept trying to tell him it wasn't, it's not his fault. But every time I wanted to send him a text message, I'd get twenty from him. It just kept overwhelming me all over again it was too much to handle. But it wasn't his fault."</p><p>"You know how Blue gets; he has his own struggles. When he gets anxious, he can't stop. I tried to all to him, but he wasn't willing to listen. If you want, I can try and talk to him when they get back."</p><p>"Of course not, he probably thought you were just trying to make him feel better." To be fair, Donnie would have thought the same thing. He had thought the same thing, there had been times when his brothers had been mad, and he had been sure it had been his fault. HE really needed to talk to Leo-</p><p>But when his phone went off again, he felt the stress he had been willing away crash down on him again his hands coming up to cover the sides of his head as he curled into himself. Before he could decide what to do Splinter reached out and quickly squeezed the shutter button, effectively silencing it. HE then refilled Don's hot chocolate; "Its' ok Purple just take your time."</p><p>"Who was it?"</p><p>Splinter blinked at him before looking back to the blank phone, "I'm not really comfortable looking at your messages, I'm not a helicopter parent."</p><p>"I'm asking you to, please?"</p><p>His father gave him a long look before sighing, "Alright but you gave me permission, no hacking my tv. No looping the PI Channel." Donnie couldn't help but smile despite how he felt. Splinter looked to the messages, "Ah, Mikey sent you a math joke."</p><p>, "What does it say"</p><p>"Umm, 'Why do plants hate math?' "</p><p>He had a feeling he knew the answer, even so he asked, "I don't know why?"</p><p>"Because they have square roots."</p><p>Yup that's about the cheesy answer he expected. It was one of the weaker math jokes he had heard, but he couldn't help but drop his forehead on his folded arms and giggle helplessly. After a few seconds he took a deep breath and raised his head, wiping his eyes, "That was awful, freaking awful."</p><p>"Ah, it kinda goes over my head. I didn't learn a lot of math in Law School."</p><p>Donnie had been taking a sip of his hot chocolate when he choked, coughing loudly, "Wait, Law School? You went to Law School?"</p><p>"My parents were, "Splinter rubbed his chin for a moment, "Well they couldn't make up their mind what I was supposed to be. Only that I had to be either a lawyer, a lawyer, or lion tamer, so they made me apply for all three."</p><p>IT took Don a moment to realize that was the first time he had ever heard of his Grandparents. Truth be told, when they were children Don and his brothers had thought Splinter was simply a mutated rat. When they had discovered he was actually Lou Jitsu he had to admit he was curious about the extended Hamato family and wanted to ask questions, but Mikey had reminded him that it was probably too painful to talk about. And even though Donnie had wanted answers he agreed not to press the matter.</p><p>Now though, he could see something in Splinters eyes as his father looked into his own mug, something that felt far away, he finally understood and was grateful for Mikey having that insight… When Splinter raised his head again with a smile, "So what is your decision? I have no problem talking to Blue if it's too much for you, or if you're not up for it. But only you can make that decision."</p><p>Truth be told, he really wasn't sure he was up for it. But he could still see Leo waiting at the entrance to the lair, foot taping, watching the clock. Anxiety eating away at him, his normally cocky smile and razor-sharp sarcasm replaced by a layer of anxiety that pulled his heart apart. it was better than letting Leo be miserable and sleep in front of his room for days. H really shouldn't have let it get that bad HE couldn't do that to his brother, "I'm going back to my room."</p><p>"Alright Purple. At least I made sure you ate."</p><p>Don wasn't sure what he was talking about at first, until he noticed the plate of sugar free sugar cookies was empty and the remains of the last one in his hand, "Oh oops. I guess I was hungry." Before giving his father a sheepish smile, "Thanks again." He put his plate in the sink and was about to exit the kitchen when he paused "Hey um, " he looked to his father again, "I know I don't say this a lot, but I do appreciate everything you've done for me. You loved me for me, you didn't try to change me and I." this was getting a little too sappy for him, but he sighed, "I got really really lucky when it comes to Dad's, you know?"</p><p>"Ha! Of course, you did! "Splinter grinned, "But I also got lucky with my sons, all my sons."</p><p>Don smiled weakly; he was about to head back to his room when he paused. "Hey, do you want to hang out a little longer?"</p><p>Splinters face immediately lit up," OF course I do! The day I don't want to spend time with you is a cold day in Vegan Hell!" Before hopping down from the table, "We can organize the movies by serial number like you've e always wanted. "Man, that was something he had wanted for years. So, he followed his father into the living room.</p><p>For the first time in a long time, he could breathe easier</p><p>(#)(#)\/(#)(#)</p><p>When Senor Hueso found out he had a stomach ulcer, he honestly thought the doctor was joking. But no, he saw it on the X-ray (why a skeleton needed an X-ray he had no idea). The doctor asked him if there was anything new in his life that would of cause any stress. And at the time he had just laughed it off, saying it was just the restaurant or all the new teenagers he had just hired. But as he sat at his desk, elbows resting on his desk as Lennox, his favorite waiter, stood in front of it stoic as he ever was. Except that in each hand he held a disgruntled teenager, in his left hand was the other waiter known as Karlos, a skeleton and in the other was the familiar face of Leonardo. Both were covered in bruises, Karlos had an especially large bone bruise on his jaw line. But to be fair, Leo had enough bruises to tell him Karlos put up a good fight.</p><p>Hueso took a moment to massage his temple before a sigh escaped him, "Alright, I'm only going to ask this once, who started it?"</p><p>"He attacked my brother!" Leo jerked around, twisting to wrap his legs around Lennox's bicep like a sloth, pointing again, "He hurt him!"</p><p>"For the last time IDIOTA I have no idea what you're' talking about!" Karlos looked to Hueso, "I was leaving for practice and HE follows outside and starts yelling at me! Before I could find out what's his problem was, he starts swinging! I was defending myself! He attacked ME!" Karlos reached up and detached his arm from his shoulder and swinging it out, Leo yelped and immediately legs around Lennox's bicep at the skeleton now swinging at him. Lennox, who had to keep holding them away from each other extending his arms further to hold them as far from each other as possible. Hueso dropped his face in his hands to spare himself the sight of his favorite waiter holding a giant turtle hanging from the dragon's arm like a sloth clawing and hissing at the skeleton, as Karlos swinging wildly at him with his free arm.</p><p>And he wondered why he had a stomach ulcer</p><p>"¡Detener!" the two squabbling teens stopped squirming (somehow when Karlos was trying to hit him with his arm, Leo had gotten a hold of it in his teeth and started chewing on it ) "Len, put Karlos down he's going to be late."</p><p>Leo immediately started in again but that gave Karlos the room to free his arm from Leo's mouth and reattach it as Lennox set the skeleton back on the ground. Karlos looked to Hueso," He broke my hockey stick."</p><p>"We will take care of it, in the meantime maybe the school will let you borrow one of theirs."</p><p>Karlos gave Leonardo one last glare, before storming out of the room. That was one problem down, Hueso turned back to the dragon, who was still holding up a thrashing Leonardo, "Len, whose taking care of his brothers table?"</p><p>"Aliyah." Hueso had to give him credit for being so stoic as Leo kept pushing the bottoms of his feet against his face as though trying to put out a fire,</p><p>"Alright, go tell them their idiot brother will be out in a bit."</p><p>"No problem," Lennox finally set Leo back on his feet, "IF you have a problem with this one, call me." Before he left the room. Hueso kicked out the chair in front of his desk, "Sit. Now."</p><p>Leo gave him a look sour enough to rot stone, Hueso wondered if he was really considering running out that door and going back after Karlos. It was a possibility, but Hueso knew that if Leo stepped one foot out that door without his consent, Lennox would be there in an instant to tackle him down. Whether the annoying the turtle knew that he didn't know. But Leo gave the door only a glance before sitting down heavily, arms crossed over his chest with an age appropriate groan, "Can't believe you let him go."</p><p>"Well I didn't want to ruin his perfect attendance."</p><p>"It's not funny! He hurt my brother! That bony bitch- "</p><p>"I assure you, Karlos didn't hurt anyone. He might have anger issues or be able to count without taking off his shoes, but he's a good-hearted kid. He once almost got by a car trying to save a rabbit from being hit. He's incredibly empathetic to those around him. Unless, of course, a rabid turtle jumps him."</p><p>"Yeah right, He attacked my brother- "</p><p>Hueso took a deep meditative breath folding his fingers together, "you keep saying that, why don't you start from the- "</p><p>"he had my brothers hoodie! His favorite hoodie! He took it from him and hurt him! And-and- "Leo was back on his feet, pacing around the room, "You better hope I don't get my hands on him- "</p><p>"Pepino, if you keep threatening to hurt one of my waiters, you're going to get on my bad side. Now SIT DOWN."</p><p>If Leo knew Hueso, he had never actually known the skeleton to threaten him. That alone drove him back to his seat, he didn't' sit down as hard as last time, but he didn't meet Hueso's eyes. Which didn't stop Hueso from asking," Now what was this about a purple hoodie?"</p><p>"My brothers favorite hoodie. I saw it in your waiter's gym bag in the bathroom. He lost it a few days ago."</p><p>"You mean this one?"</p><p>Leo's head shot up as Hueso reached into one of his desk drawers, pulling out a familiar well-loved purple hoodie. The red slider fought every instinct to keep from snatching it out of his hands till the skeleton held it out to him. Leo immediately held the hoodie to his chest; the fabric was achingly familiar, and the sleeves had small singe points from messing with electrical wires. Not enough to be noticed by the naked eye, but Leo knew what to look for. Enough so he didn't have to look at the tag to see Donnie's perfect handwriting on the white tag.</p><p>Though Donnie's hoodie had never been a source for comfort to him, he held the hoodie close to his chest, hugging it for all its worth. Desperately trying to ignore the stinging in his eyes, "How-how did you get this?"</p><p>"Karlos gave it to me. He asked me if I knew a turtle who liked to wear purple, and I said yes. He was hoping it was the same turtle he saw the other day and asked me to try and return it for him."</p><p>"He- "Leo took a breath, "But why did he have it if he didn't hurt Donnie? The day my brother lost his hoodie he came home in shambles. How do I know that-that-bone head didn't take it from him?"</p><p>"Because I trust him. And Lennox was with him, between the two of them they keep a level head, " Hueso paused, "Alright Karlos is a hot head, and I once saw him get in an argument with an empty carton of milk ,and somehow loose that argument, but Lennox is level headed he would of told me if something like that happened. And as I said before Karlos is a good kid. I trust them."</p><p>"So, so then what happened? "</p><p>"I wish I knew Pepino. All I know is what they told me."</p><p>Leo finally tore his eyes away from the hoodie in his hands, "I-what did they tell you?"</p><p>At first the skeleton just gave him a unreadable expression, and Leo wondered if he had finally tried his patience, but then Hueso sighed, "WE were running low on groceries the other day, so I sent them to the Yokai Mart to buy a few things. It took them a little longer since it was crowded, apparently a fight had broken out. Which isn't inherently odd, you'd be surprise the lengths Yokai will go for Basilisk Cheese," At first he thought Hueso was going to finish his thought, but then he gave Leo a long hard look. Leo couldn't help but wonder what was going through his mind. The skeleton reached out and took him by the shoulder, "Leonardo," he started, "If your brother didn't tell you then I shouldn't not because I don't think you deserve to know, but because I respect your brother. If he didn't tell you yet, there must be a reason for it. All you need to know, is that Karlos didn't lay a hand on your brother, all he did was reach out a helpful hand and helped him find his way home."</p><p>Leo paused, before bringing the hoodie closer to his face there was a distinct lack of fabric softener but it there was a softness to it that did say someone cleaned it. The sign that someone probably scrubbed it with their hands to avoid any strong scents from attaching to it. Someone who had just wanted to help a stranger.</p><p>Someone whose head he had just tried to crack open</p><p>He leaned back in his seat, as though the weight of his mistake and the hoodie were suddenly too much to handle, "I knew it. I knew it all along, this was all my fault. I wasn't there for him and now he's never going to forgive me- "</p><p>He was spiraling so bad when his was hit with water he yelped louder then he should of. Swiping at the air to defend himself before vaulting over the back of his chair to protect himself, "Stopit!'</p><p>"What do you know, works on vegans and turtles." Hueso lowered the quiet gun he had pulled from his desk (why he had one, Leo had no idea). Leo scrubbed his face with his foreman What was THAT for?!"</p><p>"You were spiraling for no good reason, so I took action. It's part of my charm."</p><p>"No good reason?! My brother, my Favorite Donnie in the whole world was in a fight, and-and, 'He thought about the way Don was when he got home," He had a meltdown didn't he?! He had a huge meltdown and there was no one there for him." This time Leo was aware enough to duck behind the chair when Hueso raised his squirt gun again</p><p>"Do not make me use this, I just told you that he wasn't alone."</p><p>"They can't help him like I can! They couldn't-He came home a complete mess! He- "his mouth dried up, stealing away a voice that normally never stopped. With a lack of strength, he leaned forward onto his elbows and buried his face into his brother's hoodie. He could hear Hueso sigh and at first, he was going to be under fire (or rather water) again. But instead the chair by his scraped and he felt a hand rub his shell, "What does your brother have?"</p><p>It didn't take a genius to figure out what Hueso was asking, "Donnie has Autism."</p><p>"Ah, I thought so, but I don't like to assume. My sons best friend has Autism as well, and you seem to have more than a touch of Anxiety."</p><p>Leo blew out through his lips,' Pssh, no. I just sometimes have racing obsessive thoughts that make me feel like I'm going crazy."</p><p>"That's Anxiety."</p><p>"I <em>know</em>, "Not like he liked to admit it," Donnie was actually the one who figured that out." Leo sighed," he's' so much smarter than everyone else, and Dad taught him a lot of coping mechanisms. But-but we've been going to the surface a lot more. And with everything with Draxum I think it's been too much for him. I thought I was helping him through it but maybe I wasn't doing enough."</p><p>"Leonardo, what did you do when your brother got home?"</p><p>Leo could only stare at Hueso for a moment, unsure if he had heard him right. More so because he had never heard Hueso say his name. He blamed that on his delayed answer, "Well his hands were busted up, so I cleaned them up and - "</p><p>"No, after that. After everything died down. After he was ok."</p><p>"Well I asked him what happened. I- "he paused," I pushed a little too hard figuratively, so he pushed me over physically. He was sorry though, so we thought it was better to give him some space. But that was days ago, he hasn't left his room since except for a little bit today.'</p><p>"How do you know he hasn't left his room?"</p><p>"Because I've been watching it, I've been texting him, and when I did see him, he just ran back in.</p><p>That how I know it was my fault."</p><p>Hueso gave off another sigh. Leo was sure he was going to raise his imaginary skeleton blood pressure pinching his brow and stressing out like that. Then Hueso's hand came to rest on Leo's shoulder in a more paternal gesture then he had ever seen from the skeleton, "Listen to me, I don't know your brother's situation, or condition. I know it's different for everyone. But I think right now you should turn off your phone and go eat pizza with Michael and Raphael."</p><p>"But- "</p><p>"You are so concerned about your brother, about if you did something wrong that you haven't really considered that no one as at fault here. You need to relax, laugh, tell a couple million bad jokes, and let your brother come to you. Alright?"</p><p>No, he wanted to try and call Donnie. He wanted to tell his brother he knew what happened and that he was still there for him.</p><p>But</p><p>He glanced back to his darkened phone screen. He could see the worn-down spots along the bottom from the numerous texts he had sent his brothers. Instead he put it back in his satchel and put his face in his hands</p><p>"If you start crying now, you're going to force me to be nice to you. And that'll ruin our dynamic."</p><p>Leo let out a weak laugh, wiping at his dry face, "yeah ok." Despite Hueso's words, he gave him a warm pat on the shoulder as he left. Leo went back to his brothers table, after a few concerning questions from Raph, they sat down to enjoy their pizza. Lennox came by, even if their waitress was now a cat Yokai in a hijab, and let Mikey paint his claws. He laughed, let out a few bad jokes</p><p>All the while, Donnie's' hoodie stayed tight in his hands</p><p>(#)(#)\/(#)(#)</p><p>As usual, they arrived home with twice as many pizzas as they ate. And with Mikey's usual, "We're hooooooooomeee!" cheer. Whether Mikey had forgiven him for being mean to him earlier, or he had just forgotten, Leo didn't know. But Mikey was already dropping his pile of pizza boxes on the coffee table," And we got some for you Dad!'</p><p>Splinter, who had for some reason been staring at their movie collection with a look of pure confusion, smiled at them, "That's why you're my favorite orange!" he hurried over and took the top box, checking the toppings , "Onions, sauerkraut, and jelly beans. Yup checks out." Before closing the lid and looking to Leo, but Leo noticed him glance at the hoodie in his hands for a moment and the bruises on his body, "Blue, the smell coming from your room is making my eyes water, go clean it."</p><p>"what?! No! I- "</p><p>"Now Blue.'</p><p>Leo opened his mouth to argue, but his jaw ached so bad just groaned in his best impression of 'tired teen'. He'd just have to sneak Donnie his hoodie later. But as he stomped for his room, he tried to think about what might cause his room to smell. He cleaned his sheets every week AND used scentless air fresheners. All so Donnie could be going to his room without being overstimulated. But as usual he was trying to be a better brother and he was being nagged for imaginary smells-</p><p>At least he thought that until he swung his curtain open as saw Donnie sitting on his bed</p><p>At first, he could only stand there, unsure if Donnie was actually there or if Karlos had knocked him in the head too hard. IT was only when Donnie gave him a small smile did, he step in and close the curtain after him, "At least I know my room doesn't actually smell."</p><p>"I wouldn't come in here if it did. You know why I never go into Raph's room? Sweat Sock Central."</p><p>"Tell me about it." Leo managed a weak smile but found himself looking Don over with a critical eye. The bruise that had formed around Don's eye was almost gone, and he no longer had bandages around his hands. Overall, it almost looked like the incident with the Yokai Mart never happened. But he could still see a tenseness to Don's shoulders and an exhausted look in his eyes. He was almost ashamed that he hesitated before holding out the hoodie. Donnie snatched it out so his hands an pulled it over his head. After a few seconds Don closed his eye and it seemed as though all the tension had left his body, "Thanks."</p><p>"No problem," Leo hesitated, "Can I ask if you're ok? You don't have to answer."</p><p>"I'm still not doing great, but I'm better than I was. I asked Dad to get you in here so we could talk alone. Before you Leo'd up again."</p><p>Even though Leo was pretty sure 'Leo'd up' meant something along the lines of 'being overly concerned he took it as a compliment. Don scooted on the bed and patted the space by him. Leo ignored the fact he was being invited to sit on his own bed and sat down.</p><p>"Before you start apologizing, you need to know none of this was your fault." Don held a hand as Leo opened his mouth, "NO stop. I wanted to go alone. If you had forced me to take you with me, I would have gotten mad at you and it would have made things a lot worst. But as it stands, the fact you were there for me and helped me when I first came home got me through the worst of it. So, stop blaming yourself, and stop sending me endless text messages. "</p><p>The worst he had wanted to hear all along, except for the text message thing but it did very little for the hot knot of anxiety in his throat, "You're my favorite Donnie. I'd do anything for you. And you don't have to answer this, and this'll be the last time I ask, but what the hell happened D?" he wouldn't be surprised if Don shrugged it off and left- "</p><p>Instead Don turned away from him, "It was stupid," Welp, never mind, "I heard about the Yokai Mart weeks ago from Sunita. The idea of a giant store dedicated to Yokai fascinated me. I thought because I wouldn't need a disguise, I wouldn't get overwhelmed. I thought I was prepared. I mean you and I have been terrorizing human stores for years,"</p><p>Leo gave a snort, those losers at the Pirates Prices never could catch them not with him pushing the cart and Donnie standing in it pointing out where to go to avoid security, "I remember."</p><p>"Do you also remember what happened when we all started going to the surface? What Raph said?"</p><p>That took the fun memory of being chased by a mall cop in a toupee right out of him, "He," Leo sighed tiredly, "He was worried about you going to the surface because of your sensory issues. He wanted you to stay home. But only because he cares- "</p><p>"I know that, I know he cares. But he was right in a way, and it was only because of my noise cancelling headphones that I can go to public places or even tolerate New York." Don gave him a look, one that expected him to fill in the gaps. He was taken back to when they were children, Donnie spending hours poring over a pair of headphones, a prototype that would eventually lead to Don making the noise cancelling headphones he wore today, "Did yours fail?"</p><p>"the Yokai mart has a spell on it that prevents electronics from working. Including my headphones. So, you can imagine how well I reacted to that."</p><p>"Dude." Leo said softly, "I'm, I'm sorry."</p><p>"After that-." Don sighed, "I realized that I was heading for a meltdown, I couldn't stop shaking but I actually tried to call you. Unfortunately, that spell they used to keep electronics from working worked too well."</p><p>"You tried to call me?" Normally when Leo found out he was right it was followed by the 'I told you so' dance, except he had realized what Don had said, "Wait someone was following you? It was Karlos wasn't' it, I knew I should have bitten his leg off when I had the ch- "before he could continue his rant Don reached over and flicked him between the eyes. His vision burst into colors as he yelped and grabbed at his face, "Ow! Don- "</p><p>"Do you want to know what happened? Then stop interrupting me."</p><p>"I'm a commentator!" but as Don brought his fingers up again to repeat the process he yelped again and covered his face, "Ok ok I'll stop!"</p><p>"Thank you." Don took a breath, Leo wasn't sure how he didn't notice Leo looked twice as tired as when he first found him on his bed, "Anyway, I was so flustered, I was pacing, between that and the noise I couldn't focus. I thought at least if I could talk to you on the phone you the sound of your voice would calm me down enough, and maybe you could come meet me. The more I couldn't reach you the more overwhelmed I was becoming; I wasn't even sure I could find the exit. I- "Don stopped abruptly as a tear finally broke down the side of his face. Leo hadn't even noticed that his eyes had been gradually filling up this entire time, losing more and amore of his composure. And judging by the way Don touched his face hadn't noticed it either. Instead his face flushed with easily recognizable embarrassment as he pressed his face against the curled fist as he took a shaky breath. Leo reached for his hand but reminded himself that Donnie didn't always find comfort in physical contact like he did. Before he could pull his hand, away Donnie took it, squeezing it tightly. Leo didn't hesitate to squeeze it back. Waiting as Don composed himself for a few moments before his breathing leveled out again, "I was so out of it, so overstimulated I didn't notice that there were Yokai watching me. I had seen them around the store when I was trying to contact you, but I attracted their attention. A couple of mosquitos Yokai. They apparently thought it was funny to watch me struggle. And they wanted to make it funnier."</p><p>Leo didn't like the sound of that, "Funnier how?"</p><p>"I guess in Coming of Age movies they'd call it 'bullying' though I hate to admit it. One of them distracted me while the other poured a slushie down the back of my hoodie. And when I freaked out, they called me- "Don shut his mouth close. At first Leo thought was pausing for dramatic effect, but then noticed Don's eyes had begun to shimmer with unshed tears, "Do you remember when we were nine? The incident with the Lou Jitsu Frisbee- "</p><p>"Um I think- "before the memory came rushing back. "Wait they called you a- "He stopped himself saying it, but not from standing up," How-those- where are they now?! Are they still at the Yokai Mart?! Give me the keys to the Battle Shell I'll straighten them out- "</p><p>He had been ready to storm off and play the role of a protective brother but froze in place when he heard a shaky breath behind him. Reminding him why he was there.</p><p>Silence filled the bedroom. Donnie had curled up into the smallest ball humanly possible. Leo fought everything inside of him to keep from hugging his brother and squeezing the love into him. But it had been years since he had seen Don his bad, and back then his first reaction had been to hug him too. Splinter had been there in time to pull him away. Reminding him that what he wanted wasn't what to do. But He realize he probably didn't want to be stared at. So instead, He moved over and sat back at his side and he looked to his knees. He could feel Don trembling by his side, all his instincts wanted to provide some sort of comfort, if it had been Raph or Mikey they would have already been inconsolable messes, but he closed his eyes. Focusing rather on his breathing. Don't focus on the brother he so desperately wanted to hug, …</p><p>"Do you know how it feels to be called that word?" Donnie said softly, "The first time someone called me that, I didn't think anything would ever hurt so much. But that time at least had been on accident, but this? I was picked out because they knew I had a disability they wanted to hurt me in any way they could. I knocked him out, but they still got a few hits in." he gestured to his eye with a shaking hand, "I still needed help. Normally I could have wiped the floor with them, but I was so out of it I probably couldn't have fought my way out of a paper bag. That's when Karlos stepped in, he pulled me away and scared them off." Donnie dropped it off, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, pressing his hands over his face "All I wanted was to prove that I could handle a night alone in a stupid store. But I can't even do that. I couldn't even find my way home without Karlos walking with me."</p><p>Leo touched his brothers shoulder ", You don't' have to prove anything to us-"Don jerked away and looked to him again, "I'm not trying to prove anything to you or our family, or even Raph. I keep telling myself that I can handle things. But ever since we started going out more I 've seen the way everyone looks at me. They don't' even know I have Autism, but they still treat me differently. Like I'm either fragile or a weirdo, "Don's voice got quieter, "I don't know how much more I can take,"</p><p>"I," Leo paused, "D- "</p><p>"I don't need a pep talk Leo. Or a passionate speech that I'm fine the way I am. Its not going to change anything, its just part of my reality. "If that Karlos and his friend hadn't shown up when they did, I don't' know if I would have gotten home. And when I did get home, everything came crashing down again."</p><p>"Hence why you redecorated your room."</p><p>"And after that, I just. I was so exhausted and tired; I didn't want to be alone. I'm sorry I woke you up the way I did." Neither giving Leo confirmation or consolation for his actions. But it did mean he had attacked someone who had not only protected his brother, but escorted him home. Was he a bad person? Nah, he'd worry about that later.</p><p>"No, its fine, I'm good looking enough it takes a lot to ruin my beauty sleep." His brother gave him a smirk, which Leo took as a cue to look at him," I'm sorry, for Leo'ing so much these last few days. I was terrified, I didn't know what had happened to you. I was convinced it was my fault, but I should have just given you your space. I wasn't trying to get in the way."</p><p>Donnie sighed, "Look, you know I don't always like to talk about my feelings. But that doesn't mean I don't need you. I depend on you more then I want to. But depending on you, on Dad, I think that's' what really helped me all this time. Remember that Autism Support Group I joined online? So many of them talk about how their families shame them, try to 'normal' them. And I got so lucky with having a Dad who tried to understand me rather than change me. But I also got lucky with having a brother who tries to look out for me, even when I don't want him to."</p><p>Maybe it was because he hadn't had a decent night's sleep in a few days, but his heart swell with emotion overflowed in his eyes. Leo sucked his lips in to keep them from trembling. Hoping to maintain a somewhat calm and supportive demeanor. But Donnie took on look at him and gave a smirk, "You ok?"</p><p>Leo tried to figure out how to respond without loosing all composure, and instead let out a highly pitched and quick,"I'mgoodnoproblemshereallgoodalllgoodi'mgood." He was trying to figure out how to get back to his room and which pillow would best muffle his ungodly noises when Donnie scooted closer wrapping an arm around them. Leo buried his face into Don's neck, his arms ached from trying not to squeeze him too tightly. Whether from relief that he actually was ok, or from his own selfish emotion he didn't know. All he could do was try not to drown his brother in his tears, ,"I need you too D.' He said with a cracking voice, "Don't think I don't know that, you help me when I get anxious, you know how to distract me and don't pick on me when I need to hold your hand." He squeezed his brother a inch tighter, "You're my safety net too."</p><p>For a moment he wasn't sure Don had heard him, till his brother tremble softly and press his face into Leo's shoulder. When they had been younger, Leo had been scared he would never truly understand his brother's situation, or his struggles. Not like he understood Mikey's ADHD or Raph's Raphiness (He sure wasn't sure how to describe the red giant). But like Splinter told him once, understanding someone wasn't nearly as important as being there for that person on their terms.</p><p>So long as he could always help put his brother back together, he could live with that</p>
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